When it comes to achieving great success in life, there is no way you can do it without education. While it is true that knowledge is just a form of potential power, it doesn’t mean that you should ignore knowledge or stop educating yourself.
In fact, most successful people are great readers. They educate themselves to become better each day. And that’s what you must do as well. Here’s a great saying from Zig Ziglar:
“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.”
Here are some interesting reading habits of successful people from Huffington Post:
- Bill Gates reads about 50 books per year, which breaks down to 1 per week.
- Mark Cuban reads for more than 3 hours every day.
- Elon Musk is an avid reader and when asked how he learned to build rockets, he said: “I read books.”
- Mark Zuckerberg resolved to read a book every 2 weeks throughout 2015.
- Oprah Winfrey selects one of her favorite books every month for her Book Club members to read and discuss.
Can you see how self-education plays a vital role in changing your life right now?
How the modern world changed the education world
Innovations in technologies have significantly transformed how we gain knowledge and educate ourselves. Now there exist a lot of betterments that are excellent helpers for learners.
It is easier to learn today than it is 10 years from now. With the help of technology, you can learn virtually anything you want.
For example, if you want to learn how to cook oriental chicken chop, just Google it and you will discover the recipe and instructions.
If you are overweight and you want to lose the extra fat, you can do so by searching on the internet as well. Reading helps too. But the fastest way to access information is through the internet.
And this has made self-education even more important. If you want to succeed and live a better life, you must commit to never-ending improvement.
Do you also know that in today’s world, you can earn while you learn? For example, if you’re an undergrad, you can use a website like AnyAssignment.com to earn some extra income while getting your homework done.
There are plenty of ways one can learn and improve with the help of technology. But for me, I personally still prefer reading a physical book.
Why is it important to be self-educated?
It does not matter how old you are as it is never late to start acquiring new knowledge. Regardless of whether you are a student or an entrepreneur looking to create a breakthrough in your business, self-education is a habit that you must adopt.
Self-education and self-improvement should be continuous progress in your life. You have to understand that your willingness to learn and to implement what you have learned is what created your success.
So what exactly does self-education offer to you?
1. You will be smarter than other people that surround you.
Filling your mind with new knowledge will make you more experienced than others. You will constantly get fresh materials and ideas that others struggle to find and apply in your daily life.
Education gives you an edge over those who don’t have any. Think about it, if you are willing to work harder and constantly improve yourself to do better, you can outdo others.
Therefore, if you want to do better at work and in life, be willing to learn. Constantly educate yourself and improve. Be willing to change and the results will come to you.
2. It will widen your perspective.
Self-improvement will turn you into a new individual. When you explore something new daily, you broaden your view and go out of the common way of thinking.
Think about what will happen if you constantly feed yourself with inspirational books achieving greatness in life. You will be inspired. Eventually, you will buy into the idea that if others can do it, so can you.
It changes your beliefs that you are capable to live a great life too.
According to this article, Oprah Winfrey dedicated reading and learning to part of her success. She said, “Books allowed me to see a world beyond the front porch of my grandmother’s shotgun house.”
When you read and learn, you open yourself to possibilities that you never thought possible.
3. It will fill you with an optimistic attitude to the world.
When you are full of knowledge and ideas, you will never fall into panic mode when the situation is unknown to you. You will always be confident that there is a way to the solution.
It is easy to understand. When you are struggling, feeling down, and wanting to give up, read books and study how others successful have done it.
You will discover that you are not the only one that has gone through all the challenges and difficulties. You are not alone because there are others who have gone through something worse and yet, they don’t give up and succeed in the end.
“For every reason it’s not possible, there are hundreds of people who have faced the same circumstances and succeeded.”
Jack Canfield
Self-education doesn’t just make you think better, it inspires you and gives you hope.
Whenever you are feeling down, frustrated, or can’t find a solution to your problem, turn to reading and learning. Ask around, read, check with others, and the answers will surface.
4. It will encourage you to become richer.
Have you ever met a person with enormous possession who did not educate himself? The richness will not come to you on its own willingness; you should do your part first.
Tony Robbins is a household name in the personal development industry. Despite being born into poverty and growing up with an alcoholic mother and various abusive fathers, Robbins managed to get out of the rut and created a life of his dream.
Robbins too attributed his success to books. He said that took a speed-reading course and read over 700 books within 7 years, which is equivalent to reading 100 books a year.
And today, Tony Robbins is a self-made multi-millionaire running his business around the world giving inspirational speeches and seminars to those who want to learn.
5. It makes you unstoppable.
Discovering new things and filling your mind with information is an endless process. The more you learn, the more places you can go. In short, self-education makes you unstoppable.
Imagine reading a book per month. By the end of a year, you will have read 12 books. And within 5 years, you will read a total of 60 books.
Now, if a book gives you an idea to improve your life and to do better, you will have 60 great ideas to perform better in your life. Do you think this will small habit of reading 1 book per month is life-changing? Of course!
This is why reading is important when it comes to achieving outstanding success in life.
6 Simple Tips for How to Educate Yourself
There are different methods and ways in which people can educate themselves. Most of them are not difficult to apply, and anyone who decided to start his development and growth can use them.
Here are some suggestions you may want to check out:
1. Attend workshops.
The open doors to the workshop will let you discover the processes of work from inside and give fresh materials to your luggage of knowledge.
Try to attend a workshop or seminar at least once or twice a year. Not only that you will get the latest update from the event, but you will also get to know others who are striving for greatness too.
Workshops are great because you can learn directly from the experts directly. Besides, workshops usually involve hands-on lessons where you get to experience the process on the spot.
2. Find good online courses.
One of the biggest advantages of online programs is that many of them are free. You are living in the information age. So use this great opportunity to learn and improve.
Not to mention that you can learn from the comfort of your home. So if you are into online education, you can try JCU MBA for Canadians to improve your knowledge and use it in your professional career.
The Internet has surely made things more convenient and easier for people.
You can learn a lot of things from the internet these days. For instance, you can learn to cook, play guitar, knit, build websites, graphic designs, garden, etc, all from the internet.
You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your home.
3. Take books from the local library.
Borrowing books is a cheaper way to study than buying expensive programs and courses. Visit your library regularly and provide yourself with the needed materials.
If you commit to reading books and make it your habit but you have no idea what books to read, check out my success books recommendation.
4. Find second-hand books.
Search for someone who can supply you with textbooks he does not need anymore. It will be much cheaper than buying new ones. Books exchange can also be a great idea.
By the way, I have just recently bought two second-hand books from someone. The books are in good condition, but more importantly, the price is a bargain.
The best part about getting a second-hand book is that you can get access to the book at a much lower cost. Even if the book is in a bad condition, the information in the book is the same.
Plus, you can sell the book again to the next person after you read it.
5. Search for ways to obtain experience.
There are a lot of possibilities to become a volunteer in the sphere you are struggling to become deeper qualified. The experience you will get can benefit you in the future.
The key to gaining experience is to take action. So just do it. Take massive action and at the end of the day, do a personal review to see if what you do is working. If it is not, take it as an experience and improve from there.
Be willing to spend the extra time and volunteer yourself. If you want to gain first-hand experience, work for someone for free.
6. Look for a coach.
This is by far the best way of learning. Instead of reading and trying things out yourself, you get someone to show you the way.
You can skip all the common pitfalls and mistakes and get to where you want to go faster and easier.
Getting a good mentor to guide you may not be an easy task, but when you do, your success will skyrocket.
Conclusion
Self-education is important. This is especially true if you want to live a more successful and better life.
For me, I commit to reading about 2 to 3 books a month. I will buy new books from time to time, but sometimes, I will reread old books that I found to be inspiring and interesting.
I also attend online courses, workshops, and training from time to time. For this type of program, I prefer to get them from credible people or experts in the industry.
So, do you think self-education is important? And how do you educate and improve yourself? Let me know in the comment section below…
thank you .
nice work, keep up the good work.
excellent