Recently, I played a little game of Doctor with my MacBook Pro.  We underwent an operation.  An operation that required opening up the machine.  The objective?  To upgrade the RAM.  It was an upgrade that was needed for some time, but I kept putting it off.  Lately, I have been doing more and more on my laptop, even throughout the work day.  While I am a large multi-tasker, my laptop was not.  This was evident in the slow response at times, also known as the spinning wheel of death.  After enough frustration, it was time to take the plunge.

While going through the process of ordering and installing the RAM upgrade, I began to think over the fact that I should have done this a long time ago.  Why did I wait until now?

I was slow.  I was outdated.  I was behind on the times.

With ten minutes worth of work, I was back up to speed.  I had updated my machine to meet the new standards of today.

While I realize that hardware upgrades, such as my RAM upgrade, can be expensive and burdensome to someone’s budget – I see the importance of staying up-to-date.  Not necessarily with hardware specs or owning the latest and greatest, but with information.

Every day, new information becomes available – all at the touch of our fingertips.  News articles, product releases, emerging technologies, scientific breakthroughs, and hours of media.  While it is certainly impossible to stay up-to-date on every single bit of new information – information is key.  There is value in information.

Staying up-to-date with the most relevant information to your life, like the specific skill set that you excel in, or the company you run, or the hobby you enjoy – know the latest and greatest will always push people to you when they have questions.  It shows value in you.

And it doesnt take a lot of time.  Set aside 10-30 minutes everyday to hop online to the relevant news source of your choice, or flip on the news channel of the TV, or scan the different related emails in your inbox.  It is worth it in the long run.

Remember – information is key.