Flitting through the pages of “Hacking Your Education,” I was searching for answers of how to go about getting a career without formal credentials. When you have to navigate how to go about your own life, independent of formal and parental guidance, solely on your own learning experiences and expertise, it takes a while. A lot of “throwing-spaghetti-at-the-wall” type action.
Lying, I said to myself that it was too late when I poured over the pages of Dale Stephen's “Hacking Your Education” Jonathan Levi's “The Only Skill that Matters,” Michael Ellsberg's “The Education of Millionaires,” James Altucher's “Choose Yourself” and William Bennett's “Is College Worth It?” I just wish I discovered sooner other pathways to learn and make money other than the traditional answer of “learn a whole lot of subjects to become well-rounded” or “go to college” I wish my parent's discovered the value in an alternative education system even earlier than college age, such as the Montessori school format, or the value of “unschooling.” Regrettably, I don't possess any domestic, mechanical, and financial skills because I was never taught [I'm not stating this as an excuse, only as a reality]. Even more frustrating to me, I feel like my time was wasted at school because they were teaching subjects that I don't actually use in my own life, that I have never used, that I don't care about.
What's the purpose of being “well-read?” What's the purpose of learning natural science and ancient Greek mathematics? Giving speeches? The MLA format? And Latin would make me better at learning French?
Yeah, right.
When I left the first college I attended, full of frustration, that was the question. Looking down on specialists, they told me their reasons, but I couldn't personalize it for myself. I couldn't form my own reason. When you are learning, you have to find a powerful reason.
There's a lot of subjects that I've either taught myself for a little while or dabbled in. But by far, the best topic I've ever taught myself was learning how to learn.
Over the years, I've enjoyed taking back all those hours. And still enjoying it.
When I was about 14, I wrote a huge fantasy novel. Not knowing any techniques, I enjoyed the process itself. At 14, I tried writing out. Discovered I had fun. That I enjoyed the process and not just the result. Back then, I wish I became even more obsessed or that someone encouraged me to build up my skills and spend less time stressing out about grades. I wasn't planning to go to college when I graduated high school. The two topics outside of school that I was learning about was French and how to employ memory techniques, but it didn't go any further than reading a book. I wish I had explored more during that time.
Now, in 2024, I am learning how to write. And I can employ the memory techniques and learn French whenever I choose.
Another thing that I found out, while in high school, was that I like French. I discovered that I felt joy in learning it. I wish I became obsessed as well. What I have realized is that you can learn the skill even if you aren't quite sure where it's going to end up [provided it is something you actually enjoy]. I wasn't sure what I would do with it and thus became distracted.
After high school, one of my mistakes was that I was thinking long-term, not necessarily short-term, when it came to careers, freedom, and money-making methods. I thought, “I will hone a skill or do research at my parent's home, then I will move out with at least some knowledge and skill.” The problem was, it was not a place conducive to learning.
The environment in which you learn is very important. It needs to happen in a less stressful environment. But the environment was too stressful for me. So when I did eventually move out, I didn't have much skill and knowledge that I could confidently apply, either in a business or a job. Business was appealing to me [especially after listening to hours and hours of “The James Altucher Show” in 2017] but I didn't have any skills or knowledge that I could build a business around.
At 30, I feel like I have been “catching up” in life a lot. My method of fighting this frustrating feeling is going back to what gave me energy and where my talents are. Maybe it will work again. Here, in Utah, I am constantly learning independence. Which is empowering and something I can add to my self-learning list.