“In today’s fast-changing world, it’s not so much what you know anymore that counts, because often what you know is old. It is how fast you learn. That skill is priceless.”
Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad (Page 212)
Beyond the Quote (57/365)
And to that point, even more important than the speed in which you learn is whether or not you are actually still learning. The world is changing at an incredible pace and as Kiyosaki points out, more often than not, what you know from what you’ve been taught is likely outdated and old. Thankfully, with the internet and Google, we don’t have to worry about memorizing new material or about having access the latest ideas—they are readily available to us with a couple of quick thumb taps. But with that access and organization still comes responsibility on our part.
Learning isn’t just memorization and it certainly isn’t just knowing that you could tap your thumbs whenever you wanted to get answers… Learning is a constant and never-ending quest to grow your understanding of yourself and your world so that you can live your best life and contribute to it in the most sophisticated ways you can. The less you learn, the more outdated your understanding of the world will be and the more distant you will be from your best self (and greatest potential contributions).
To be clear, the type of learning I am speaking to is the highly specific, focused learning that requires critical thinking, problem solving, trial-and-error, networking, and/or research. I’m not talking about the type of learning that happens merely as a by product of existing as a human. We are constantly gathering information about our ever-changing environments and we’re always learning about how to best function in them. I’m talking about the higher learning that happens beyond just existing—the type that’s conscious, deliberate, and done with the intention of growth beyond our current sets of understanding. And when it comes to higher learning, the effort shouldn’t stop after school.
In fact, you should never let your formal education get in the way of your higher learning. Higher learning is something that should happen before school, after school, and (with the right teachers) all of the time throughout. Unfortunately, I have heard time and time again how students dislike school, feel distant from their teachers, and are so fed up with “learning” by the time they’re done with their “education” that they don’t want anything to do with more “higher learning” when they graduate. This is one of the great tragedies and challenges of our time. How can we re-imagine and re-structure the school system to better serve it’s students (the future of our world) so as to keep their imaginations and curiosity ignited throughout and long after formal schooling?
This is not to say that the school system is all bad and is failing all students. There are numerous stories of amazing teachers and outstanding schools who have served our students in incredible ways—undoubtedly. But, from a broad perspective, that feels to me to be more of the exception than the norm. And so what do we do? To be honest, I’m not quite sure. But I can tell you where to start. We start within the confines of your own mind. Within the walls of your own homes. With the people in our immediate circles. With the social networks that we are already a part of.
We start right here, right now, with what we have, with the people who surround us, and we do the best we can to exemplify and push for the change we want to see. Why should it start anywhere else? If we can’t get this right ourselves, why should it be somebody else’s responsibility to figure it out? Higher learning is highly specific to the individual and should be catered to learners in that way by the people who care about them the most—at the very least. And don’t think that this means you have to home school your kids or boycott the system. Higher learning, as I mentioned before, should be happening all of the time: Before school, after school, and throughout.
What might this look like? It doesn’t have to be complicated and it doesn’t have to be a big workload on you, the facilitator, either. Remember, learning is about igniting fires, not about filling buckets—all you have to do is create the right spark and the fire within the individual should take care of the rest. Education should never be about pouring all of the answers into the buckets of a student’s mind.
Higher learning is about going to the library or book store and getting any books that spark an interest (for you or for others). Books should never be looked at as an expense—they are an investment (and a wildly good one at that). Moreover, not all books that spark an interest have to be pure educational! Reading is one of the best forms of higher education there is. You have to trust the process and let the act of reading unfold how it may—comic books, fantasy, mystery, and all. Furthermore, higher learning might happen with trips to local museums, parks, sanctuarys, plays, shows, exhibits, and other imagination-stimulating environments. It might happen with exposure to new activities, sports, games, recreational activities, hands-on tasks, or after school activities. Heck, it might even happen when you ask your kids to grab the tools to help you fix the table.
Think in terms of sparks. What might spark their (or my) imagination? What question(s) might they (or I) want to know the answer to that might spark a train of thought that might lead to higher learning? Buying video games and giving them access to more distractions won’t help. Challenging them to make their own video game or develop their own entertainment does.
This post became the introduction for 17 Eye-Opening Robert Kiyosaki Quotes From Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Don't Let the Motivation Stop There...!
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