Ray Kroc, the founder of MacDonald's was a witty guy. He's know for a good selection of short sayings. I like the one, "when you are green you can grow, but when you are ripe, you are starting to rot." It is the natural order of all things in nature. Look at the plants and animals.

Only he know what he was refering to for sure. For me, it means you have to keep learning, keep experiencing new things and continually use your imagination. It is like pushups for muscle growth. Learning something new is brain exercise. Without hard use, your brain will fade and die.

Nothing too complicated at all. Think about little kids. They hungrily seek everything new. Plus, they enjoy repetiion. They will go over the same material until some know it all by heart. It is not they did not "get it", they love the mental stimulation. They're a perfect example of being "green" and growing.

Many believe that when they receive instruction or input on a topic they are on the path to learning and growing. That's a wonderful place to begin this new journey. This exposure to new material is very valuable. It's addictive to many.

You should return to your natural curiosity. Remembering yourself as a young person is a good place to start. Pretend you are a little kid and increase your need for learning to their level. You were enormously skillful at curiosity when you were little. It's time for you to go back to the level you enjoyed as a child.

As you try to absorb and understand any new information, your mind will grow with the effort. It is very healthy to be in this learning environment. You want this result.
Become a continuous learner right away.

Let us discuss a couple of additional issues. The first one is learning something new and exciting, but not taking any action with this new knowledge. I have written about this before. Not taking action is the problem.

Even bigger trouble for us exists when think we know something. It's even bigger if we think we know a lot about something. This is a very big issue for so-called experts or gurus. This happens to senior people in every position. Professional associations address this problem. Many of them require their members to take annual professional development education.
Don't laugh. It could actually happen to you if you're not careful.

What's the best way to prevent this situation happening to you personally?

If you ever find yourself verbalizing, "I know all about that", that's a hint. This is a great limitation.

Put some thought into this. Saying, "I know that" at any time could be a clue to you. Generally you'll cut off any more input. You have stopped communications.

It isn't even important to say it out loud. This kind of self talk has the same effect. You'll stop listening.

I believe myself to be a perpetual learner. I focus on learning first in teaching second. Many people think of me as being an expert in my fuels of business development and management training. I think that's great they feel that way, but I prefer to think myself a student. I'm always going to new seminars and workshops. Whenever I find a new book on my topics I read them. Whenever I encounter an expert in any of the fields I'm interested in I like to listen to them.

I hope you will find yourself adopting a similar approach to mine.

Streching your mind with a problem can actually help.