The Secret to Becoming Greater and Happier

One truth I’ve learnt in my life is that if you get a formal education you’ll be able to make a living, but if you get a self-education you can make a fortune. To me wealth is not just about accumulating possessions, yes I believe we are all entitled to prosperity, but true wealth also means having a passion for life. It means being interested and engaged in the world and always learning. Too many people think that once they finish school, they stop learning, but if you want to prosper you need to keep learning over the whole course of your life. The American educator Anthony J D’Angelo said, “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.”

My goal is not just to motivate people, but to motivate and educate – to instil a desire in you for self-improvement. My ambition is to motivate, educate and empower you to live a more prosperous life. Inspiration alone cannot take the place of education, however you’re mistaken if you think education is only delivered by institutions like schools and universities.

Self Educate

I’m a great believer in self-education. If you understand how important it is to educate yourself, nothing will be able to hold you back. You need to grow your brain in order to succeed and prosper. If you want to change, sow seeds that bring different fruits! I’m forever reading. If you come to my house or get in my car you’ll notice that CDs and books are everywhere. I take a book wherever I go.

I’m a huge fan of the biographies of great people. I study their mindset and learn how they overcame obstacles in their career. Have you read Nelson Mandela’s biography? He spent 27 years in jail. This is what he said about leaving jail; “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” How many of us have created prisons in our mind? We have self-limiting beliefs planted by our parents, teachers, even friends. We are imprisoned by bitterness, a desire for revenge or just self-limiting beliefs. I am constantly telling people to rid themselves of mind viruses and aspire to greatness. Believe in your potential – you are capable of so much. Chuck out self-limiting thoughts. The greatest problems you’ll face in this life are caused by your thinking – your mindset. It’s up to you to rid yourself of unhealthy thinking patterns. No one else can do that for you, and if you hold on to them, you might pass them on to the next generation – your kids. If ridding your head of viruses is a priority, you are going to need to work at it every day. I also suggest you invest in a self-help book. You could start with one of my titles, for example Feeling Well, Living Well.

But getting an education doesn’t have to mean sitting in a classroom surrounded by books. If you want to continue your learning start with a subject you’re interested in and find out everything there is to know about it. Go online. There is so much information at our fingertips, although not everything on the internet is accurate or true. We’ve all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will never reproduce the entire works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to Twitter, that’s been proven! But there is a huge amount of credible information out there, especially on specialist sites. You can even learn foreign languages free of charge on the internet. There is a wealth of knowledge. Have a look at a site like Open Education. It offers free university level course material.

If you are serious about educating yourself there are so many options: read books, see art exhibitions, go to concerts, watch documentaries on TV, learn a new word out of the dictionary every day, enrol in a community college course, or try to read a Saturday newspaper from cover to cover. Benjamin Franklin said than an investment in knowledge pays the best interest.

Share your Knowledge

Once you’ve accumulated knowledge, the next question is what are you going to do with it? Maybe you could start by sharing it with friends. You could open by saying, “I learnt this week that ….” People usually enjoy learning new facts and will be interested in your self-education, but don’t be condescending or start feeling superior. Treat others as peers who can also impart knowledge to you.

Turn Knowledge into Wisdom

Your ultimate goal is to turn your knowledge into wisdom, which frees us from prejudices and makes us more appreciative of life and this world. Remember, knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. When it comes to developing wisdom, it helps if you find a wise mentor – someone who’s faced and conquered some of the difficulties you might be going through. For example, if you are running a small business, you might look out for a mentor who has run a successful business for years. Perhaps that person may be able to give you some of their success secrets! Every relationship in your life fortifies either a strength or weakness so gravitate to people who enhance your life. Another of life’s greatest teachers is adversity. Learn from your mistakes! If you’ve just experienced a crisis consider starting a journal, and every day writing down what you learned from the crisis and how you got yourself into trouble in the first place. You don’t want to walk down the same road again and fall into the same hole. Albert Einstein defined insanity as “doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result”.

Unfortunately some people learn and grow, and some people don’t. They choose not to learn. Everyone wants recognition and rewards in their life, but if you want to prosper you are going to have to do something to get it. If you want to bloom, flourish and excel you need to develop your mind – you need to grow a m