Examination of your weekend or evening interests might reveal a gem of potential you can apply to your vocation. I strongly suggest you don’t unthinkingly relegate what you love to do solely to hobbies. You might make it, or, at least, integrate it, into your life’s work.

The acquisition of knowledge, which is the new global power, is a life-long experience, not a collection of facts or skills. Not long ago, what you learned in school was largely all you needed to learn to secure a career. With knowledge expanding exponentially, this is no longer true. Hundreds of scientific papers are published daily.

Every thirty seconds, another innovation is produced by some new technological company. Your formal education has a very short shelf life. Life-long learning, once a luxury for the few, has become absolutely vital to continued success. Continue to gain expertise and avoid thinking like an expert.

Action Idea: An excellent benchmarking exercise is to spend a weekend with key associates or family members and dust off your childhood memories. Remember what you really enjoyed and wanted to do most as a child. The next activity in assessing your interests is to consider your current ones. What do you most enjoy after work? What do you most want to do on weekends and vacations? What are your hobbies? Can you bring more of what you enjoy into your business life?

Action Step: Increase your Reading, Writing and Vocabulary Proficiency

One of the most important qualities of successful leaders is an ability to express their thoughts and knowledge. Research by management and human resource experts confirms that people with large vocabularies - those able to speak clearly and concisely, using simple as well as descriptive words - are best at accomplishing their goals. Well chosen, carefully considered words can close the sale, negotiate the raise, enhance relationships and change destinies.

In a world of e-mail, fax, voice mail, sound bites, concise reports, business plans and meeting briefs, individuals who can articulate their goals, substantiate their claims and support their visions, will own the future. In the 21st century, literacy will be the major difference between the haves and have-nots.

Why do fewer than 10 percent of the public buy and read non-fiction books? One reason is that many would rather be home than be ahead. They are motivated to be pulled into the future by the company, the economy or the government.

Many individuals believe that information found in books, computer programs and training sessions has no value in the business world. How self-deluding!

As the new tools of productivity become the Internet; the DVD (Digital Versatile Disc); direct digital download of text, audio and video; and other forms of interactive communications, the people who know how to control the new technologies will acquire power, while those who thought that education ends with the diploma are destined for low-paying, low-satisfaction jobs. In almost the blink of an eye, our society has passed from the industrial age to the knowledge era.

Increase your reading by 100 percent. Decrease your television watching, and that of any children in your family by 50 percent. Surf the Internet and subscribe to book summaries, or download free chapters from different sources. By reading book summaries, you can gain the essence of all the top business books in a very brief period of time.

Action Idea: Read at least one book each month, and listen to at least one additional audio book during commute or down time. One of the best sources for business audio books online is MP3audiobooks.com.

Reading and listening to a variety of fiction and non-fiction will increase your vocabulary, writing and presentation skills. Incredibly, a mere 3,500 words separate the average person from those with superior vocabularies.

Keep a dictionary beside you when you read and find every word you don’t fully understand. Don’t depend on your computer’s spellchecker for your spelling. Not all e-mail service includes spell-check. You may also be asked to write longhand notes, memos or information on white boards or blackboards at meetings. Not only do you want to use the right words, but also you also want to spell them correctly.

A great way to increase your literacy is to engage in Internet conferences and read summaries on the Web sites of Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other booksellers. The more interactive you become and the less you indulge in prime-time television, the more successful you’ll become in all areas of your life. Knowledge is the new power; and literacy is the door to knowledge.

Never again will you be able to go to your place of business on autopilot, comfortable and secure that the company or organization will provide for and look after you. Look in the mirror and ask who is responsible for your success or failure. You must become a lifelong learner and leader; for, to be a follower is to fall hopelessly behind the pace of progress. The power brokers in the new global arena will be the knowledge facilitators. Ignorance will be even more the tyrant and enslaver than in the past.

As you look in the mirror, you will see another image. It is your competition. Your competition will be a hungry immigrant with a wireless, hand-held, digital assistant. He or she will be hungry for food, a home, a new car, security, a college education – and knowledge. Your competitors will be smart, quick thinking, skilled and willing to do anything necessary to succeed. They will be willing to work long hours and Saturdays, stay open later and serve customers better and more cheerfully. To be a player in the 21st century, you must be willing to give more in service than you receive in payment. These are the new rules in the game of life. These are the actions you must take to be a leader and a winner in your personal and professional life. By mastering these profoundly simple action steps, you will be positioned to be a change master during the new century.

Action Step Number #1 - Consider You Self-Employed, But Be a Team Player.

You are your chief executive officer of your future. Start thinking of yourself as a service company with a single employee. You’re a small company that puts your services to work for a larger company. Tomorrow you may sell those services to a different organization, but that doesn’t mean you’re any less loyal to your current employer. Taking responsibility for yourself in this way does mean that you never equate your personal long-term interests with your employer’s.

You don’t want to suffer the fate of those who lost their jobs and found their skills were obsolete; therefore, begin immediately to protect yourself against that possibility – by becoming proactive, instead of reactive. Ask yourself these questions: How vulnerable am I? What trends must I watch? What information must I gain? What knowledge do I lack?

Start a training department in your mind and make certain your top employee (you) is updating his or her skills. Make sure you maintain a private pension plan, knowing that you are responsible for your financial security. Entrusting the government or an employer with your retirement income is like hiring a compulsive gambler as your accountant. You’re the CEO of your daily life. You must have the vision to set your goals and allocate your resources. You must be responsible for your future, much the same as the self-employed. Today’s typical employees are no longer one-career people. Most will have five separate careers during their lifetimes.

Action Step Number #2 - Be Flexible in the Face of Daily Surprises.

We live in a time-starved, overstressed and violent society. Much of our over-reaction to what happens to us every day is a result of our self-indulgent value system, where we blame others for our problems, look to organizations or the government for our solutions, thirst for immediate sensual gratification and believe we should have privileges without responsibilities. This condition is manifested in the high crime rate and the increase in violence in the workplace where employees blame their managers for threatening their security.

I have learned how to be flexible in the face of daily surprises, which is one of the most important action traits for a leader. I really haven’t been angry for approximately 17 years. During that time, no one has tried to physically harm anyone close to me or me. I’ve learned to adapt to the stresses of life and reserve my fear or anger for imminently, physically dangerous situations. I rarely, if ever, become upset with what people say, do or don’t do, even if it inconveniences me. I do react emotionally when I see someone physically or emotionally abusing or victimizing another; but I’ve learned not to sweat the small stuff.

The Serenity Prayer, “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference,” is a valuable measuring tool we can apply to our lives.