8 Things School Didn't Teach You That You Need To Know
The skills you were taught in school are mostly not that useful anymore.
- You don't need to know that the Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
- You don't need to know that Neptune is a gas planet.
- You don't need to know that an isoscolese triangle has two sides of equal length.
What you DO need to know is now up to you.
Until we change what we teach in schools, no one else is going to teach you what you actually need to know.Here are 8 examples to get started:
- History has been written by the winners, and you can either sit still or help the rest of us re-write it.
- Good guys think they are the good guys and bad guys think they are the good guys, so it's up to you to question authority and question yourself.
- There is a 0% return on investment for complaining, so you'd better turn that into motivation or you'll be stuck.
- A spreadsheet is simple and incredibly useful--you need to know how to use one effectively.
- Heart disease is the most common (1 in 4) causes of death in the U.S.--so, yeah, learning to cook and eat healthily is a life-changer.
- The most common regret of the dying is "not having the courage to live a life true to themselves," so maybe you should figure out what that means and how to get it.
- There are a lot of different personalities out there and you're going to have to work with them, so you'd better learn to negotiate and operate alongside them.
- It's hard to know when to put yourself first and when to put others first, but with some practice, you can figure it out.
This is just a quick list of things that have been on my mind.These "soft" skills are so critical in our world and they're not part of any curriculum I've seen.Until they're taught in schools, it's up to you to teach yourself (and those around you).
2 Minute Action
Pick one from the list that is resonating with you.I want you to take real action this time--not self-reflection or setting up bigger tasks for later.Ask yourself right now what you can do to move closer to your goal in 2 minutes.It's okay if it's small, in fact, that's the point.Everyone has 2 minutes.Let me know what your action is in the comments or if you have any other life-skills that should be added to this list.
How Simple It Is To Use Neuroplasticity To Your Advantage
Remember the last time you vented?Remember the peak of frustration and energy?Maybe it was low energy and sad.Maybe you were just getting all your feelings out.
Let’s be clear about something:
Your brain is constantly making little electro-chemical connections among its cells. All day, it’s trying to get better at making those connections.Thought patterns are reflected in the brain this way—meaning that the more you complain, ruminate, or regret, the better you will be at it.Quick example:When you sit down to play piano the first time, you stink.Your cells haven’t made this circuit before.But when you do it over and over, it starts to become natural.You are literally doing something you couldn’t do before!
This is the power of neuroplasticity.
It’s a superpower.You are constantly getting better at whatever you’re doing right nowWatching TV, complaining, rehearsing, winning fake arguments in the shower, whatever!It’s up to you to control your output and habits.It’s up to you to regulate your emotions and audit your thoughts.And let’s be clear: there is a 0% return-on-investment for complaining and ruminating.You are the brain owner!Your brain and it’s mechanics are YOUR responsibility!
2 Minute Action:
When was the last time you reacted negatively to something?What would Gandhi say about that?What would the Pope or Rumi say?How else might you reframe this?Difficult people can be a growth opportunity.Difficult projects can be a learning opportunity.You have no control over the environment or what happens. You’re allowed to feel how you feel.You do have control over what you do next. You’re not allowed to act out or hurt others because of how you feel.Take 2 minutes to look again at the last time you complained about something. What can you get from this experience?If it was a crummy experience, you owe it to yourself to pull something positive out of it.