Sunday 15 January 2017

The Pursuit of Lifelong Knowledge

"Successful men, in all callings, never stop acquiring specialized knowledge related to their major purpose, business or profession. Those who are not successful usually make the mistake of believing that the knowledge acquiring period ends when one finishes high school." (Napoleon Hill)



Steve Siebold, author of How Rich People Think, studied 1200 of the world's wealthiest people and discovered that most have "a crazy appetite for reading".  Atlanta businessman J. B. Fuqua, while he did not have much of a formal education, borrowed books from Duke University regularly.  He was so grateful for how the institution had helped him that he became its biggest benefactor.  The Starbucks CEO wakes up at 5 am every morning and reads the Seattle Times, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.  Oprah Winfrey credits reading with helping her move from childhood poverty to affluence.  "Books were my path to personal freedom.  I learned to read at age 3 and soon discovered there was a whole world to conquer that went beyond our farm in Mississippi."(http://www.inc.com/james-paine/5-billionaires-who-credit-their-success-to-reading.html)

Successful people don't always have a lot of formal education, but they do believe in educating themselves.  They read books and magazines and newspapers to acquire specialized knowledge in their subject area.  "Walk into a wealthy person's home and one of the first things you'll see is an extensive library of books they've used to educate themselves on how to become more successful."(http://www.businessinsider.com/rich-people-formal-education-2015-8)


1.  Always have a book.

2.  We all have a to-do list.  Keep a "to-learn" list as well.

3.  Surround yourself with Intellectual Friends.

4.  Practice Guided (Critical) Thinking

5.  Put your knowledge into practice.  Don't simply study painting, pick up a brush.

6.  Teach others.  Mentor someone or start a blog.

7.  Clean Input 

8.  Learn in groups (workshops, etc)

9.  Unlearn assumptions.  Challenge your worldview.

10.  Find jobs that encourage learning.

11.  Start a project.

12.  Follow your intuition.

13.  Morning Fifteen.  Devote the first fifteen minutes of the day to education.

14.  Reap the rewards

15.  Mark learning a priority.








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