Education Has A Price - So Does Ignorance

Education is your key to success and advancement in every area of life. However, it is NOT defined by academic qualifications. In fact, all too often, these can form an excellent contrary indicator! Whilst academic qualifications do undoubtedly smooth the way in many career areas, they are by no means a guarantee of success.

The real education you need is the ongoing self-learning that will help you match your capacities to your chosen goals in life. In this fast-paced transient society, if you are not continually learning and moving forward, you are really moving backward. The sum total of human knowledge is now doubling every few years. If you are not significantly improving on your skills, then you have only yourself to blame when opportunity and good fortune pass you by.

It is said that good luck is when opportunity meets preparation. If you haven't prepared, you will be unable to take advantage of whatever opportunities may arise. Thus, your luck will remain perpetually poor, and you will continually wonder why.

The self-made wealthy and successful of society continually invest in the process of self-education in almost religious fashion. They buy and read books and have well-stocked libraries. They regularly attend seminars given by experts in their chosen field of study. Successful people are continually looking for ways to expand their knowledge and understanding.

By contrast, the vast majority of the population are completely different. They hardly read books at all; preferring instead magazines and newspapers. If they do read a book, it is the latest pulp fiction bestseller. In fact, only 10-15% of the population buy ALL the books! Do you realize the implication? It means that 85% of the population don't read books at all!

These people never go to seminars either (unless their companies pay of course), and they never buy courses to develop themselves in any way. They say they can't afford it, or what use will it do anyway? Interestingly, they can afford their cigarettes, alcohol, CDs, and home video rentals. They can often afford one, or even two, holidays a year, and a whole range of other luxuries.

However, you will never get them to part with a few dollars for a book that might really change their lives! You might as well go down to the Red Sea and raise your arms in commanding fashion! They say they cannot afford it. Times are tough. In certain rare cases, this might well be true. In most cases though, it is simply an excuse. In truth, who are these people really short-changing? Themselves! The brutal truth is that nobody else is going to care less if they don't advance in life but fall back instead. They are the ones who will suffer. Ironically, it is the very people who need to commit to self education who are the last people to do it.

Some may often point out that the wealthy have the money and thus they can afford to spend it on their own education. That is yet another interestingly devious excuse. If you follow that line of argument, you would have to admit that financially successful people have the least use for on-going education because they are already successful! Rather than point out that the education budget of a wealthy person is less in proportion to their total wealth compared to the poor person, you instead have to ask why they spend ANY money at all?

It's a very interesting fact that successful people continually self-educate and re-invest their time and money in themselves through continual learning, whilst unsuccessful people do not. It's a classic chicken-and-egg situation. Do the successful spend money on educational products and seminars because they can afford it? Or did they become wealthy and successful BECAUSE they made their own self-education a priority and paid whatever price it took to achieve it? An objective analysis would reveal the latter to be true.

The truth is it really does not cost that much to invest in a book or product that can really change your life. You can enrol in evening classes quite economically. Whether the product or seminar costs $9, $99 or even more, you have to weigh the financial cost of the product against the long-term personal cost of not obtaining the knowledge. Ignorance is NOT bliss!

Yes, there is a lot of free stuff out there, and the internet has created a freebie-seeker's paradise. But really, how much of that information do you ever act upon? How many free e-books and articles have you downloaded and never read? Knowledge may be cheap these days but the sad truth is that what you don't pay for, you never value either.

So do yourself a favor. If you still participate in the freebie mentality, QUIT IT NOW! Realize that education is valuable and comes at a price. Resolve to pay that price and move into the fast track of the self-educated and successful in our society. If you continually just seek free stuff, what sort of message are you sending your subconscious mind? Are you affirming your affluence and that you truly value yourself? If you spend money on a book or course, or take time out for training, does this not send a FAR more powerful message to your inner mind that you actually think you are worth investing in? If YOU won't even spend a cent on your own self-betterment, then why on earth would you expect anybody else to care?

Truly, there is little you cannot accomplish if you resolve to pay the price in terms of money, time and relentless commitment. However, the decision is ultimately yours.

If it's financially difficult for you, see where you can make economies elsewhere. Above all else, get that essential self-education. People are either in an expanding or contracting spiral of life. Successful people are expansive; they can afford more, because they have gained the knowledge required to create success and wealth. Often though, they had to make tremendous sacrifices and work hard for years to get to the exalted level where we now see them.

Unsuccessful people want it all now. They spend their money and time on things that don't matter in the long run. They take no risks and they never self-educate. Then they say, "I'm too poor", "I can't afford it", and so on. Yet, you often find that they do have cash for all their little transient pleasures.

Don't be like that. Break into the positive spiral. Model yourself on the successful in our society, and not the also-rans. Make no excuses. Determine to get an education and pay whatever it takes in time, energy and money to attain it. Start today!

Copyright 2000, Asoka Selvarajah. All Rights Reserved. nnn