Education is extremely important. We talked about it being necessary but not sufficient in the November 24, 2020 E-Impact Blog entry. We need to spend a bit more time on the topic.

I have learned over the past few months that education comes in many forms and in ways that you may not necessarily expect. The December 1, 2020 E-Impact Blog entry examined indelible lessons. Those type of lessons don’t leave you because they stick out among the others.

Classroom Learning

At the risk of offending my kindergarten teaching wife (It’s not that much of a risk. I do it a lot. Sorry, honey.), classroom learning eventually comes to a point of completion. The most important part about classroom learning is learning how to learn. We spend the first couple decades of our lives in this process. If it goes well, we never leave “the classroom”. We may not be in a formal class setting, but we gain knowledge (and wisdom as we looked at in E-Impact 43 last week) as we live.

Lifehack published an article by Oskar Nowik called 12 Powerful Habits of People Dedicated to Lifelong Learning. The first two are about reading and courses. This means that learning is something active. You have to seek it. You are reading this blog to learn something. Hopefully, you do. I would also assume that if you took a course you’d be trying to learn something (unless you’re still in those first couple decades of life and you’re required to go to school).

I wish when I was younger (and even now) that school did not have the stigma that it did. As students, especially in high school, we were made to believe that school was something that we had to do to prove ourselves for the next level. In the United States, our performance in elementary school led to our placement in middle school. Our performance in middle school led to our opportunities in high school. Our performance in high school led to what college we would attend. College is virtually a requirement. If you made it through undergraduate school, you could be a graduate student. Maybe you’re good enough to be a doctor and at that point you might be learning and not performing.

I don’t believe everyone is just going through the motions, but the vast majority of young people have an undesirable view of school. It’s a necessary evil. This is unfortunate because we could really benefit from experiencing education as a great opportunity to make ourselves better.

You might feel that I totally despise organized education. And at times, that is true. However, some classes I have taken still stick out to me.

Statistics

Ironically, I was a better math than English student. This is probably why I ended up in a career in finance rather than literature. It’s also half of the reason why I like fantasy sports.

One of my math teachers (statistics specifically), was a big fan of fantasy sports. His name is Mr. Hoskin and he made his class interesting (at least to me). It was the one hour of the day in high school to which I looked forward.

I remember anticipating how I could apply the lessons we learned in Mr. Hoskin’s class to sports. In fact, Yahoo! launched its fantasy sports platform around this time and we started a fantasy football league that still exists today. Mr. Hoskin is in the league and it’s a great way to keep in touch.

I excelled at math, but my typical experience with it in school was that we were expected to move too slow. We had to “show” our work and were supposed to train our brain a certain way to think. This was not ideal for me. I always thought it was best to come to an answer most efficiently and understand the relationship between the numbers. The “trick” or formula doesn’t necessarily help you understand the concept. It makes it a task instead of an experience.

My time in Mr. Hoskin’s class allowed us to apply the concepts we were learning to “real life” (I understand that fantasy sports is ultimately fake, but it is something that we do). It was just fantasy sports, but there were other real life scenarios and historic examples that he would use to help us understand what we were computing. He was encouraging us to use what we learned in a math class for the rest of our lives. It wasn’t an overly exclusive class, but it was certainly unique in relation to the other classes with the same title.

Borrowing

We are taught to attribute to those we gain knowledge from when we are learning in an academic setting. This is appropriate. But, it would be overwhelmingly challenging to credit every person who we learn from as we live our daily lives. It’s natural to say “I learned this from X Person” in a speech or in a writing such as this. This is not possible in every conversation you have. It’s also not possible to remember all the people that have contributed to certain things you’ve learned.

The things that you are “borrowing” from people are the things for which you need to “show your work”. I am working on making citations for my book to come out in the winter of 2021. These are important to show who came up with the concept or did the research that helped me understand. I am “borrowing” their work to illustrate points in my text. I am hopeful that the book is full of helpful information for people and that it’s easy to see I could not have come up with all of it by myself. If it’s just my thoughts, I haven’t put in the work to write a complete book.

Academia will help us give credit to those who came before us. It also helps those we share with (in my case with the book, readers) know where to get more information or find additional clarification on a key point.

Stealing

But, as I’ve learned in my finance career, and as it says in Proverbs 22:7, the borrower is the slave to the lender. We shouldn’t put ourselves in financial debt, nor should we put ourselves in intellectual debt. This is why I wish education did not have the stigma that it does. We should WANT to learn and seek educational opportunities.

So, instead of borrowing, what do we do?

STEAL!

Yes, I said it. We need to be thieves. Okay, this should not be applied to our finances. Don’t steal money. My book will help you make wiser finance decisions and that’s a different conversation.

When it comes to our every day life I encourage you to use the things you have learned from other people. In the past nine months of E-Impact and Speaking of Impact, I have had more people liken the use of someone else’s intellect as stealing than I can remember.

To steal is a verb defined as to take (another person's property) without permission or legal right and without intending to return it.

In reality, when someone gives you permission “to steal” their idea or anecdote, it’s not actually stealing. They are giving you permission and in many cases, if you purchased a book or a ticket to see someone present, you’ve paid for the property. In addition, you really can’t give it back.

I encourage you to take the lessons you’ve learned from others and apply them often. Don’t steal them and never use them. If a criminal robbed a bank but never spent the money, what’s the point? I suppose there might be some sort of emotional rush, but the point is to be rich (richness and wealth is another possible E-Impact topic). Just like the robber, the intellectual criminal (I am not referencing those who illegally take copyrighted intellectual property like music or literature.) must use what she or he has taken.

Application

I’ve encouraged you to steal. This entry has not gone where I may have liked. But, I’m happy we are here. You’ve read this far and I hope that you steal some of what I have written.

Positive impact in the world requires us to have open minds. We have to consider the situation and often the plight of others. We have a desire to help others. Yet, as E-Impact 40 touched on, it’s not easy. So, if it’s not easy, why not enlist the help of others? If you’ve tried to recruit people to take on a cause, you know it can be hard. Not everyone will join you in person. But, why not have them join you in spirit? Steal their great ideas and concepts and share them yourself. In actuality, I am sure most people would be honored that what they have taught you is helping even more people. Most have a teacher’s mindset.

Journaling is a great way to make sure you are using what you have learned. See The Write Way to Remember: The Power of Writing Things Down from Gr8ness. It has been proven that writing things down, which the practice of journaling accomplishes, will help you remember things. With intellectual property, that’s what you need; the ability to remember things. That way you can apply them throughout your day.

Another suggestion on how to remember things is to say them aloud. Record yourself repeating the finer points of what you have learned and play them back periodically.

Finally, I am experiencing the best way to remember things as I write the book. The need to research and produce quality content is about as powerful as it gets. If you find something to be so moving and catalyzing in your life, share it in a more formal way. Write a blog or a book. Make presentations. Do something that will require you to prepare. In that way, you’ll be “forced” to remember the concept. Also, you’ll have no choice but to implement it so it ensures that your quality of life is better.

Mr. Hoskin would be proud that I stole some of his fantasy sports practices and have been applying them for more than two decades. I’ve probably used them against him a few times too (Maybe, the apprentice has overtaken the teacher.). I’ve also been applying the lessons in more important parts of life and I know that is why he chose to be a teacher.

There’s some sort of Robinhood takeaway here. Steal from the mentally rich and share with the poor.

Let me know if you’re guilty.

Don’t Borrow, Steal: How to Use What You’ve Learned

Greatness’ Best Friend: How to Embrace Fear

Wisdom Over Knowledge: Why You Should Make the Choice