Rev Up Your Education Engine
An anthropologist was doing research on a small island in the South Pacific. He’d become quite friendly with the medicine man from one of the indigenous tribes who’d been assisting him.
“I would like to meet the most important man in your village,” the anthropologist said.
“I will take you to meet him today,” the healer offered. And the two men embarked on a short hike through the rain forest.
They reached a clearing where an old man sat cross-legged in front of a group of children.
“Is that your chief?” the anthropologist asked.
“No,” said the guide. “This man is what you would call a teacher.”
“But I wanted to meet your chief,” said the anthropologist.
“But you asked to meet the most important man in our tribe.”
We can’t put enough of a premium on the importance of education. Education can help avoid the high price we pay for experience—the great teacher that helps us gain knowledge and avoid making the same mistake twice or three times.
Capital Improvement
Education is an investment and never an expense. Consider education a capital improvement. Don’t be ashamed to borrow, particularly to replenish your professional inventory. In fact, self-improvement is the one area in which you should really increase your spending, not decrease it.
Take courses, either in a classroom or online. Go to seminars. Listen to educational and self-improvement CDs. Network at trade group meetings. Upgrade your skills. You cannot ever afford to rest on what you learned in high school or college. The workplace is filling up with people who graduated long after you did and who have acquired newer, more efficient skills. There are people who are young, eager and hungry to show what they can do to your employer . . . and who don’t care if they move you on down the road. Keep on going to school. Enhance what you already know and pick up new material. Computers. Language. Public speaking. Writing. Continue your education.
Nothing impresses me more as a potential employer than someone who is out of work but still actively attending school. What excuse is there for not pursuing education of some kind when you’re not employed? It’s the true test of your determination to get into the workplace, to present an up-to-the-minute, trainable, quality package to a potential employer.
If you are fired or downsized, it’s a great way to prove to yourself and others that you’re capable of bouncing back after a setback. It’s a real confidence builder.
It’s also the best single thing you can do for yourself.
Think about it — once you have learned something, it’s yours to keep forever — and use however you wish. You have the capacity to adapt knowledge to various situations, to apply what you have learned and improve an outcome. Your education can pay for itself over and over. It truly is a gift, perhaps one of the best gifts you can give yourself.
I realize that many of us are so relieved to reach graduation day that we forget why it’s called “commencement:” It’s the beginning, not the end. The average person spends the first 18 years of his or her life — 157,680 hours — learning and getting an education. That leaves 411,720 hours from age 18 to 65. Deduct a reasonable amount for eating, sleeping, working and family time, and I imagine everyone can find some time to improve their mind. It becomes easier when you make it a priority.
Get Motivated
So if time isn’t the real issue, what is? Getting motivated may be as simple as the act of telling someone that you are back in school. Then give them permission to ask you what you are learning. Let them nag you to do your homework and celebrate with you when you pass with flying colors. Sort of like your parents did when you were a kid.
My prediction is that every ounce of effort you put into education will inspire you to keep going. It’s good to be smart, but it’s better to be able to put your remarkable range of knowledge to work. Don’t deny yourself the thrill of being the person with the really good answers.
In some ways, knowledge is like money: the more a person gets, the more he or she craves. It’s an addiction for which the cure is more of the same. Get hooked!
Mackay’s Moral: Live and learn — and keep learning to really live.
Harvey Mackay is president of Mackay Envelope Corp. and a nationally syndicated columnist.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments