You might have heard a lot about some of the famous people in the world like Bill Gates and Barack Obama, stating the number of hours they spend reading. Or you might already have someone in your contact who prefers spending time reading rather than at a party. Why do you think they read? Why would someone spend time so much time learning?
The answer is simple: Learning is the single best investment of our time that we can make. As Benjamin Franklin said: -
The ignorance of his insight is what makes a majority of the population unsuccessful. Once they catch the train of career, they keep traveling. No one bothers to get down at a station and explore. One must take a stop and learn something new at every station. It may seem hard, but it is not impossible. As once you do understand the value of knowledge, it is simple to get more of it. All you need to do is just dedicate yourself to constant learning.
We spend all our life running after money. Our entire focus is on how to earn more to expend it. While worrying about money, our life nears the end to realize that we wasted a hell of a lot of time. The common excuse people give for not learning is “I don’t have time to learn something new.” And the reason to call it an excuse is that we are constantly devoting our time to earning more and more money. However, something is changing now.
Our prime focus shifted to money and not giving some time to learn something new. But what we all are ignoring is that soon machines will replace us. With machines getting smart, we humans will soon be replaced by them due to a lack of new knowledge.
We are at the beginning of a period of what renowned futurist Peter Diamandis calls rapid demonetization. In this, technology is rendering previously expensive products or services much cheaper — or even free. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is slowly removing low-paying jobs that involve repeatable tasks. This makes them vulnerable to technological automation solutions.
This demonetization will accelerate in the future, and automated systems will eliminate reality by offering things at a low cost. With the diminishing difference between reality and virtual reality, the rate of improvement of VR is exponential.
Due to everything available online at lower costs, the older services and products are dramatically becoming outdated. Knowledge is becoming increasingly valuable.
So, if you do not take action to chip in some time from your over-hyped hectic schedule to learn something, you will soon be the new “at-risk” group. They risk remaining stuck on the bottom rung of global competition. And they risk losing their jobs to automation, just as blue-collar workers did between 2000 and 2010 when robots replaced 85 percent of manufacturing jobs.
Those at the bottom of the economic ladder are being squeezed more and compensated less. While those at the top have more opportunities and are paid more than ever before. The irony is that the problem is not a lack of jobs. It is rather the lack of people with the right skills and knowledge to occupy the jobs.
The good thing about knowledge is that you don’t lose it when you give it away, unlike money. You can and must share it with as many people as you can. Moreover, you can convert knowledge into many things, including things that money can’t buy, such as authentic relationships and high levels of subjective well-being. It keeps you active and occupied, helps you accomplish your goal, and think bigger and beyond your circumstances.
Former President Obama explained why he was so committed to reading during his Presidency in a New York Times interview: “At a time when events move so quickly and so much information is transmitted, reading gave him the ability to occasionally slow down and get perspective and the ability to get in somebody else’s shoes. These two things have been invaluable to me. Whether they’ve made me a better president, I can’t say. But what I can say is that they have allowed me to maintain my balance during these eight years because this is a place that comes at you hard and fast and doesn’t let up.”
“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.”
- Alvin Toffler
Identify valuable knowledge at the right time as both changes. And once gone, you can do nothing about it.
Try to grasp and master it quickly as opportunities do not wait.
Communicate the value of your skills to others.
Convert knowledge into money and results.
Learn how to financially invest in learning to get the highest return.
Master the skill of learning how to learn.
Find the time for reading and learning even if you are really busy and overwhelmed.
Stay consistent in using that “found” time without procrastinating or falling prey to distraction.
Increase the results you receive from each hour of learning by using proven hacks that help you remember and apply what you learn.
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
In short, ditch your laziness and stop making excuses. Start today, start right now and just get it done. As learning is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity.
I love to make a difference. Thus, I started Acquaint Softtech with the vision of making developers easily accessible and affordable to all. Me and my beloved team have been fulfilling this vision for over 15 years now and will continue to get even bigger and better.
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