When I first started working after grad school, a coworker friend told me about a book that I just "had to get". It was The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. My friend was a husband, a new father of two, and a researcher, and he was trying to buy a house in the Bay area on a single income. So, he had lots of pressure in his life. My life was pretty simple since I just finished my thesis, tripled my income, had grad student living expectations, and wasn't trying to buy a house.

Time had passed and I didn't get around to buying the book, but my friend thought it was very important that I read it. So, he sent me an email with a web link, and all I had to do was click on the link to buy the book. So, I ordered it.

The book arrived a couple days later. But every time I tried to read it, I fell asleep. I tried again and again, but I kept falling asleep. So, I finally gave up and put the book on my bookshelf to rest.

Over the next couple years, I became a manager and started grappling with issues that all managers face. One day I was perusing my bookshelves and came across the book. I flipped it open and I couldn't put it down! I stayed up all night and read it from cover to cover! It provided an interesting perspective on different problems I was facing and it provided lots of valuable insights.

How could a book that made me fall asleep turn into a book that made me stay up all night? How could a book be so important to my friend but not at all important to me?

I think it all boils down to one point: Learning is personal.

There is a time in life when you're ready to learn about something and there is a time when you're not. The timing depends on the experiences that you and those around you go through and the challenges you face. It depends on when you become sensitive to certain issues and when you decide you want to understand and solve them. It also depends on your interests at a particular point in time. Each person hits the point where a lesson becomes meaningful at a different time in their life. Learning is personal.

When I gave my Top 10 Career Tips and my Softer Side of Research talks, I began and ended with the point that: Learning is personal, so some tips may be meaningful to you now while others may become meaningful to you later.

Do you have an example of a life experience that made a learning become meaningful to you? Which tips are meaningful to you now? Which tips are not?

Tags: learning, personal, management, career tips, seven habits, HP