Is It Really Your Fault For What You Don't Know?
It's not your fault.Well, wait that's not true.It wasn't your fault at first, but it's slowly becoming your fault.
You weren't given the right skill set in school.
You didn't learn how to use a spreadsheet or to balance an operating budget or how to negotiate the scope of a project.It's not your fault that you didn't learn, then.It's just that now, now that you're out there in the real world, it's your fault for not knowing.
Of course, this isn't fair--but it's the way it is.
You have to deal with the pain of not knowing these things and so does your employer.
Here's an example:
Let's just say that by not being good at Excel, you lose 1 hour per week of time.That's not a lot out of a typical 40-hour week. It's 2.5% of your total work week.But now let's just say that the same is true for most people.There are about 3 billion workers in the global workforce.Multiply that times a typical hourly rate like $10/hr.1-hour x 4 weeks x 12 months x $10 rate x 3 billion workers = $1.4 Trillion
Let's look at that with all the zeros.
$1,440,000,000,000Yeah. That's a lot of work waste.
2 Minute Action
You're not responsible for what happened, but you ARE responsible for what happens next.Your expectations and standards are up to you, but consider that you might not be the only one paying for them.
- Take 2 minutes to watch a YouTube video on something that could improve your work.
- Take 2 minutes to read a Harvard Business Review article that could give you a new perspective.
- Take 2 minutes to schedule time with a mentor or expert in your field and present them with the biggest problem you're facing.
It won't take 2 minutes to be a different person so don't expect that.
It takes thousands of minutes, and you can only clock thousands of minutes if you're doing it consistently day after day.Today is no exception.It's another Wednesday.Let's make it a good one.
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.