The Key to Everything

Book excerpt: Change your life when you learn to cultivate the characteristic that is the key to success—teachability. Charisma, wealth, power. Talent, looks, smarts. Charm, guts, hard work. For eons, attributes like these have stood as the surest indicators—if not outright guarantees—of success in life. Not anymore. While traditional traits still play important roles, a lesser-celebrated characteristic has risen to the top of the list: teachability. In today's rapidly changing world, making our mark requires an insatiable desire and a tireless willingness to learn, to un-learn, and to re-learn. In short, success requires teachability. In The Key to Everything, pastor and leadership consultant Matt Keller unpacks the varied aspects of this essential art, drawing on ancient wisdom and modern insights—from biblical heroes to current influencers such as John Maxwell, Seth Godin, and Dr. Henry Cloud—to show you the critical value of learning as if your lives depended on it. For two decades, Matt has worked with hundreds of influencers, and he has learned that the greatest enhancer or greatest limiter to a person's success is whether someone is teachable. With a blend of careful scholarship and comedic wit, The Key to Everything is filled with stories, quotes, lessons, applications, and laugh-out-loud observations that will transform the way you approach life and leadership. Teachability isn't something that some people are born with, and others aren't, it is a characteristic that you can learn and cultivate. The only way to succeed in life is to possess teachability in an ever-increasing fashion, and The Key to Everything will help you begin to develop this essential skill.