Expanding your Knowledge Base
Excluding the necessities to keep your heart beating, there is nothing more important than knowledge. There is a difference between knowledge and education. A lot of people associate education with school and universities and the like, which is great, but it is not really the point. School is great for teaching you calculus and that mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell. However, you do not learn how to take care of your finances or what exactly the Federal Reserve is. Knowledge is more catered to the individual. Everyone needs to know different things because they will have different experiences in life. This is where you learn the information that you need to thrive in life, and why expanding your knowledge is so vital.
Why?
People always want to be financially well off, and they look towards CEOs, professional investors, and similar successful people to see how to reach their financial goals. I have noticed that a lot of the richest people on the planet all have very similar habits. For example, it is common to see major CEOs read an average of 50 books a year. This is not just a coincidence. To operate at that level you must always be learning something new. It Is this trait of always learning that is fundamental to the success of many people
Now reading is a phenomenal way to learn, however it is not the only way. There are many ways to expand your knowledge. YouTube is always a good place to start. Just look up what you are curious about and watch a couple videos on it. After that you have at least a general understanding of the topic, or you have more questions and now have more things to look up. The great thing about this approach is that it is free for the most part.
People are defined by their habits
Habits are one of the most fundamental characteristics of a person. Good or bad, habits make you who you are to a certain extent. Whether it be exercising daily or smoking a pack of cigarettes a day, the habit can have a profound effect on your character traits and your condition. As an example, it takes a lot of discipline to exercise daily, eat healthy, and make sure you get enough sleep. For people who do not exercise daily, to do so seems impossible. However, for people who already do it, it is relatively easy. Why? Because either way it is a habit.
Habits can be extremely difficult to make or break. A lot of sources suggest that it only takes about 3 weeks to make or break a habit. From personal experience and some research, this 3-week time frame seems to be a myth. However, every time that I tried to start or stop a habit, I have at least felt that I made progress by this 3-week mark. This does not mean it was set in stone, but just that at that point it seems easier to continue.
Since habits are something that are extremely important for personal development and pretty much everything in life, I will put a link to an article I found about habits at the bottom of this post. In case you do not want to read the whole article, the study that they used stated that it takes an average of 66 days to start a new habit. That is a little over 3 times longer than the 3-week myth.
Creation of new ideas
By constantly exposing yourself to new information, you are giving yourself the ability to come up with new ideas. This is an absolute game-changing advantage for people who need to be creative in any aspect. Once you are used to learning new information on a regular basis and it becomes a habit, try to consume as much as possible.
One problem that I ran into with this is time. Between my research and still attending classes at a university, I completely understand how time is a problem for most people. During semesters, I may only have an hour a day to read for myself and to expand my knowledge base as an investor. I am a great example of why the “just get up earlier” argument does not always work because I already get up at 4am every day.
My favorite way to expand my knowledge base is reading, so I am rather biased towards that. However, listening to podcasts, watching YouTube videos, and listening to audiobooks are great ways to learn as well. I actually do all of them. They all have their strengths and place in your education. It is just that how big a role they play is dependent on your personal preferences.
Optimize your time
A great skill that would be helpful for anyone to learn is how to optimize the time you spend doing things that you have to do anyway. For me to read more, I started taking a book and a highlighter to the bathroom instead of my phone. That way, I had nothing else to do except read. If I did bring my phone along, I tried to watch an informational YouTube video or listen to a podcast instead of just scrolling through Instagram.
Another way I optimized my time was to always be doing something while I ate. So, for every meal I would either be reading or watching an educational video. This is best when you are eating alone. If you are eating with friends, family, or your significant other, spend time with them. They are what really matter in your life and quality time with them should always be the best choice.
The last way to optimize your time is specifically when you are listening or watching something. If you are listening or watching something, see if you can speed it up and listen to it at 1.2X time or 1.5X time. This way every time you listen, you we exposed at least a little more information than you otherwise would have. Those little increments of time add up over the long run.
Conclusions
Learning is one of the most important things you could ever do with your time. One of the things that is consistent with a lot of extremely successful people is that they are voracious students. They are always learning something knew.
This concept is actually the one that started this blog and gave it its name. Always learning and improving is the key. If you are always open to improving yourself and willing to learn something new, the odds that you will be successful in anything are very high in the long run. Many people think this is impossible and stop learning once they leave school, but if you find something that you truly love to do and learn about, you will never want to stop anyway.
To your wealth and future,
James Forsythe
link to article about habits
https://www.healthline.com/health/how-long-does-it-take-to-break-a-habit#21-days-myth
Get back to the home page so you can get back to expanding your knowledge 😉
