Thursday, December 8, 2016

What You Can Afford = What You Cannot Afford Not To

7 Reasons To Be Self-Educated

In the fast paced world we live in today it is paramount we continue to learn, adapt, change, and transform the world in and around us. Self-education has never been as important as it is now. Self-education is the only true education; it is the way to transform ourselves to achieve the levels of success and significance we desire. We all have different learning styles. Some of us learn by reading, others by listening, others by watching, and others by associating with likeminded people. Champions use all forms of learning. The best way to learn comes from doing, experiential learning, the application of what we already know. Significance comes from being a hungry learner and quick at applying what we learn. Be the fastest from problem identified to problem solved and you will be a big winner in anything we pursue. If we know and we do not apply what we know, then the knowledge we have is of little or no value at all to us and to those we serve in the world we operate.  The investment in the right self-education brings 100 fold return, yet most people lack the will to be self-educated because they lack a strong enough reasons to do so or they allow their excuses to overpower their reasons. The world is full of starters (full of reasons) but also full of quitters (full of excuses). Why not be a finisher in a world of starters? Here are the 7 reasons to be self-educated and to finish big, finish strong in life:


1.    Expand your mind
Feeding our minds with the right information is critical to expand our thinking ability. Our brain is the most valuable asset we have, yet most people disregard this truth by feeding their minds with frivolous information. Once a mind is expanded it will never go back to its smaller size. Social media is flooding our brains with information of little use thus robbing our time (our second most precious asset) each and every day. A self-educated mind is a healthy and productive mind. Expand your mind to contain the right information, better knowledge, and more wisdom.

2.    Program your thinking for success
We can program and re-program our thinking for success and significance. All it takes is continued feeding of right bite size pieces of information which becomes knowledge once being processed by our brains. Applied knowledge turns into valuable experiences to accomplish bigger and better things. Proper thinking is hard work and that is why so few do it. Many people are losing the ability to think properly due to over feeding their brains with wrong information. We satisfy and entertain our minds with information that actually kills our ability to develop the proper thinking and reasoning. Develop the ability to continuously improve your thinking.



3.    Fall in love with learning
There is no more powerful habit than that of continuous learning and application of knowledge. Learning is the best form of leisure. Opposite from entertainment, leisure leads to a great life, while entertainment leads to higher levels of craving for what will eventually lead to a smaller and less significant life. Entertainment has its place but it should never be at the center of anyone’s life. Make learning your life long pursuit and live the life you once dreamed to live.

4.    Develop self-discipline
We either discipline ourselves or the world will discipline us. Self-discipline is a trait found in all champions. Champions do what others are not willing to do thus the chief reason they achieve what others will never achieve. Champions are not smarter or even talented; they have the discipline to do more than others on a consistent basis. Little can be accomplished by those who allow the world to discipline them. Go on the offensive and develop the self-disciple required to win at the game of life.

5.    Achieve your true potential
We will never know and achieve our true potential if we don’t develop our talents and abilities through practicing and mastering the skills required to become what we were created to be. The continuous feeding of our brains with the right information produces better thinking and better quality of decisions. The right decisions compound over time producing the desired results. Success is a habit that can and ought to be developed by everyone. Success comes from a direct attack at our current reality. A productive loop is another trait in the lives of champions. Never allow another day to go by without doing something that reveals or refines ability.

6.    Develop the winner mindset
Winners are not smarter than anyone else, they just think different because they fed the right information into their minds. Most individuals think they know how to choose the right information yet their results in life proves otherwise. In an information flooded world, there is a very high return on investments made to get the right information. Quitters never win and winners never quit. Persistence and tenacity prevail when it comes to getting the right self-education. Develop the right mindset so you can see the world around you with a new set of lenses.

7.    Find the right associations
We become the average of the people we associate with. Every human being has the right to choose the right or the wrong associations so choose wisely. Choose to associate with people you can learn from. Choose to associate with people who will uplift you to higher levels of success. Technology has the ability to bring us together or drive us apart. We either leverage technology or technology will leverage us.
Is technology getting the best of you or are you getting the best out of technology?
How is technology helping you to be a better person and a better professional?

I hope the above inspires you higher levels of achievement.


Thank you for reading and reflecting on today’s nuggets.          

Be blessed and be a blessing to others
Carlos Fontana
Author of the book Priceless, Co-author of the book Follow to Lead

"The future belongs to those who can see and pursue opportunities before they are obvious."
"Those that take swift action will always leave those that don't breathing the dust."


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