On Learning & Purpose

Outside of a few wonderful teachers, my experience in school was largely uninspired. I had trouble focusing and wasn’t interested in memorizing facts and spitting them back out. I questioned the purpose of it so often, I almost didn’t graduate from high school. I did make it to college and found some success, but I was definitely going through the motions. These patterns continued during my initial forays into the business world.

It wasn’t until my early thirties that I became more self-directed in my education. I read a few books that caught my attention, and those books led to other books. Something interesting was happening. I was reading a ton, but what I read didn’t seem to stay around for long. I began journaling and it all started coming together. Writing about what I was reading helped me turn that information into knowledge. I used my journal as a workshop for my ideas. It was a laboratory to mash up what I was reading with what I was seeing and feeling. 

I was hooked.

As a father of four, I want my kids to have a different relationship with education than I did at their age. One that helps them unlock and activate their curiosity before they are in their thirties. While school remains a necessity for general assimilation into society, I wanted to find ways to share what I’d learned on the journey to becoming an autodidact.

My kids ask the same question that I did at their age.

“Why do I need to memorize dates and equations? When will I ever use them when I grow up?”

Here is an answer I’ve landed on for the moment. 

I wish I could have told this to myself, but I may not have listened.

School is not the most highly sought after activity for teenagers, and maybe your current role isn’t either. Both incorporate building trust and collaborating with other human beings. In many cases, you are given a task and a due date. It’s up to you to ask all the questions to define a clear picture of success, while dedicating the right amount of time to complete it. You deliver as promised or better.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

The goal here is to demonstrate your ability to deliver. By delivering consistently, you will start to see more opportunities that resonate with your superpowers. How do you know your superpowers? While delivering, pay attention to the things that seem a little easier and more exciting. Take note of them and try to apply them in other situations. Eventually, it becomes easier to connect the dots. How do you connect the dots in your life? You establish a repeatable communication channel with the only person that can answer that question. 

You. 

But, how? 

You write.

Then, you continue to deliver and you observe.

And then, you write a little more.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.