“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
~Derek Bok, Harvard educator~
No matter how you spin the effects of the economic climate, one constant remains: the few people with a great attitude or outstanding skill base get to hold onto their jobs, while the marginally efficient workers get their walking papers without a blink.
Education and a hunger to learn will put you in the running for the best jobs and the best entrepreneurial options. We have libraries, we have the Internet, and we have a plethora of in-house and societal seminars/workshops to upgrade our skills and knowledge.
Yet how many people wile away their free time multi-tasking in escape activities such as watching TV, email messaging, reading vacuous comics, listening to deafening music, or just sleeping away the hours, days and years?
One bad habit repeated over and over again can put you on the surgeon’s table for open heart surgery or put you on Redundancy Avenue in the workplace. You can’t be faked out by the short-term feeling of invulnerability.
The man who eats a Snickers Bar every day for thirty years may at first only get a sugar high. But down the road he will deal with heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and perpetual drowsiness. The smoker may run marathons in his twenties but, by the time he is in his forties, will be wheezing, suffering from chronic bronchitis, or even knocking on death’s door.
In the same manner, a man who doesn’t read the book, attend the seminars, and in general upgrade his skills will find himself left behind or left out in the workplace. He may claim it is unfair that he got laid off, but the years of bad habits and perpetual intellectual laziness are his own fault.
Our results in life are usually very scientifically predictable. That is both good and bad news, depending on our willingness to change and to shape up.
Start a daily plan of education. Make it as habitual as eating breakfast or brushing your teeth. At the end of the day ask yourself: What have I learned today? What have I accomplished? What do I want to learn and accomplish tomorrow?
In many super successful people’s houses, the most important room is the library, not the entertainment room. And the library – believe it or not – is often filled with books read rather than displayed for pretentious intent only.
I was never a fan of our outgoing President, George W. Bush, but I knew that he was not stupid, as many people claimed. You don’t become President by being a stupid oaf or even by being the son of a former President. It recently was revealed that President Bush was and is an avid reader and has plowed through over 185 books in less than two years.
Never underestimate a man or woman who reads and challenges his mind in many subtle ways. Such a lifetime habit will bring infinite joy and breakthroughs which are clearly attributed to the ritual of making education a daily part of one’s life.
Be extremely vigilant over the gateway to your mind. Your destiny is in your hands. Every day use all your senses to soak in the sensations and information essential for your prosperity. Most information is – with a bit of effort on your part – free of charge.
Further down the road, however, it will cost you dearly for being intellectually bankrupt. To punctuate this philosophy, watch this Obama speech…
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