EDUCATION DEFINED
January 17, 2011
When people hear the word “education,” they tend to think of formal education, as in universities and degree requirements and GPAs and exams and long, pointless lectures about somebody who died 350 years ago. In a country that no longer exists.
But when I say education, what I’m mainly talking about is self-education. Formal education is institutionalized learning where they feed you a certain amount of material from a predetermined menu. There are general education requirements and core classes that may or may not ever pertain to what you’re going to actually DO for the rest of your life.
Self-education is another thing altogether. It’s about learning on your own terms and your own timeline. It’s when you’re the one who initiates it and you actively go and seek out the specific skills or knowledge that will make you a better businessperson. Self-education means paying attention and sometimes learning the hard way. It’s figuring it out, looking it up, developing street smarts, or finding someone who knows what they’re doing and asking them how they do it. It’s about being able to identify where the gaps are and closing them up.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not knocking formal education. Anybody who earns any kind of degree has every right to be very proud of that accomplishment. In the big picture, higher education can make for a richer life experience in so many ways, and in certain fields (such as law and medicine) it’s mandatory. My son, Zac wants to become a Blue Angel fighter pilot when he grows up, and for that he’ll need to go to college.
But we are entrepreneurs, in the trenches, where education has life-or-death urgency! Here in the business trenches, you can’t pause the movie and take a time-out. You must learn in action while you’re still running the business. You need to earn while you learn. You need to find out what it is you don’t know that’s getting you killed and learn it RIGHT NOW so you can start using it and start winning.
Bottom line is this: You do not need a college degree to succeed in business. You absolutely DO need to educate yourself, on an ongoing basis, to succeed in business.
Kick Ass, Make Money & Have Fun Doing It!
Related posts:
- HANGING TOUGH
- How “In The Trenches” Applies to YOU!
- WHY YOU NEED A BUSINESS BATTLE PLAN
- VALUE YOUR PEOPLE
- FAILURE IS ONLY TEMPORARY
Comments
Got something to say?
-
LIMITED TIME ONLY $2.99!
FREE: No Money, No Problem! e-book
“No Money. No Problem!” ebook.
It’s FREE, entertaining, and it will teach you lessons in negotiation that I taught my six year old son during a recent vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Click the cover above to read the story.
