The only way we become our best and stay on top of our game is if we commit to lifelong learning. How much better would you be in a year if you committed to studying a new subject, trade, or product every 90 days. I want to share with you three steps to 90 day learning cycles to make you the best you can be. These ideas work for any career or industry. 
ONE – Work harder on yourself than you do on your job
The great Jim Rohn said, work harder on yourself than you do at your job. If you havent heard of Jim Rohn I encourage you to watch this video . The idea is, work hard at developing your self, developing your potential, and building on your skills and knowledge. If you will do this the bring more value to the maret place. The more value you bring, the more income, benefits, and perks you can demand.
Work on your leadership and people skils, what is called, the soft skills. These skills will take you farther than your field knowledge. If you can influence others to want to work for you, to want to carry out your vision, and build loyalty and respect you will be successful.
I advise starting out reading all you can. Commit to reading one book a month. The best place to start for leadership is John Maxwell, read all his books. I recomend starting with, “Developing the Leader Within You”.
The best book there is on developing people skills is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie. Read this book and then re-read once every year.
Two – Study The different discplines of the industry picking a new subject every 90 days.
We all have areas we are strong, and then if we are honest we would have to admit we all have areas we are weaker. Lets strengthen our weaknesses. As the Superintendent on the job, the more you know about each trade the better you can understand the needs of the project and the requirements of your trade partners.
Pick a subject, concrete, utilities, electrical, HVAC systems for example and find liturature or books to study your subject for 90 days. Each industry has loaded the internet with information on thier products, systems and codes. Firestone Building products website for example is loaded with liturature detailing specifications, installation instructions, and details. You can find this type of information for almost everything you’ll encounter on the job.
Utilize the information on the internet, purchase a book, or ask your trade partners you currently work with if they have any books or information you can borrow.
Three – Utilize your current trade partners as resources
Once you’ve decided what your subject of study is for a specific 90 day cycle, utilize your trade partners as resources. Take a foreman from a Subcontractor to lunch and pick his brain about his trade and his job. Most people love to talk about themselves and they will take a free lunch.
Be right up front and tell them you’re interested in learning more about his/her trade. This is your chance to ask questions from those in the trenches. Questions like, what are code requirements or even better, what is typically a reason inspections are failed? What is the biggest contributor to inefficiencies in your work? How could I help you be more efficient or effective in getting your work done? Is there a particular trade you need to coordinate with the most and how can this be improved?
This is also a great opportunity to build relationships, show them you care. Ask them how they got into the trade and there back ground.
Imagine how much you can learn if you didthis just once a month for a year with different trade parters.
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