The Lifelong Learner :: Do what you can, with what you have, where you are -Roosevelt ::

In an ideal environment, you have people that you admire and can learn from. They mentor you. If you have that environment, consider yourself lucky and take advantage of it. It’s one of the best ways to keep learning!

If you don’t have that luxury, and you think people around you are mediocre or just bad, you can learn and keep learning from them as well! How? By observing them and learning what not to do! This was mentioned in How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci book. The author says that he learned the most from bad teachers. He learned what not to do as a teacher.

So here’s how you can keep learning: learn from the best — copy what they do, listen to them; and learn from the worst — avoid doing what they do, or do the opposite.

In essence, put others’ experiences to your own use.

Reference
How to Think like Leonardo da Vinci

If you are determined to succeed, Glen Hopkins, the author of the book Lucrative List Building has some really good advice.

Apply and Test What You Learn

One of the two most important characteristics that successful people share is their constant strive to improve themselves through ongoing education.

Successful people are not content to simply learn. What separates them from unsuccessful people is their ability to apply and test what they learn.

You see, knowledge is absolutely useless unless you use it. Does it do you any good if it’s just taking up space in your head? NO!

In order for it to benefit you, you need to act on the knowledge that you have. You must, therefore, apply it to your life and your business.

The reason that stops most people is summed up in one word: fear.

FEAR: Don’t Let It Control You

The second key characteristic or trait that successful people share is that they act in spite of fear because they are not afraid to fail. They are fearless.

What is fear, anyway?

You can’t touch it. You can’t hold it. You can’t show it to another person. Then why do we have fear?

Fear is nothing more than an emotion or a feeling that we hold in our minds. We fear either the emotional or physical pain something may cause. The problem arises when these emotions and feelings affect the way we live our lives.

We fear doing certain things because we think we might fail. This may be due to past failures we have actually experienced, or it may be due to failures we fear we might experience.

You must put aside your imagined fears and go for it!

ReferenceSelf Improvement Newsletter, Aug 8, 2006

In America, everyone is pressed for time. We don’t have time to do anything. But did you know that you have over 225 (or more) hours per year to use?

It’s a simple rough calculation: 1/2 hrs * 2 (daily) * 5 (week) * 45 (roughly, yearly) = 225 hours.

If you are a typical worker, that is the amount of time you waste commuting to work. This figure could be a lot higher or a little lower, of course. That’s a lot of hours!

What do you do with these hours?

Did you know that you could put those hours “to use?” You could put those hours to your advantage.

You know where I’m going and how I’m thinking. I’m always trying to learn, and the amount of hours is just to great to go to waste. I use the majority of the time to listen to audiobooks. And I get them for free at my local library.

By not paying for the books is great, because if I don’t like a book or if it does not capture my tired mind, I dump it. I get another one.

But I don’t use all of my commute time to listen to audio tapes. I try to spend at least 10-15 minutes each way for quiet time — time with no music or other distractions. It allows me to relax and re-charge right after work. It allows me to be more creative. It’s a good way to think about different ideas. I let my mind think about anything it wants. I learned about this technique several months ago and have put it to use since then.

What are you doing with your hundreds of hours? Make them work for you. Use them to recharge and to learn!

What does abortion have to do with crime?

If you’ve read Freakonomics, which I’m currently enjoying listening to, you would know. It’s fascinating to hear. And you would not think it is true. But it is, and the authors have reasonable evidence to support it. Okay already, what is it?

Abortion reduces crime. In a big way, actually. What? You might be wondering. Actually, it does. Why? Because woman that usually have an abortion decide that they cannot raise the child, or are in a difficult situation (on drugs, etc). A lot of those times, if it weren’t for abortion, they would raise a kid that would be more likely to commit a crime.

This theory has been tested in several states in America. They did not know why crime was falling in America in the 1990s. Almost everywhere in US. They thought it was because of the booming economy, which doesn’t have too much to do with it. It turns out that because legalized abortion was put in place in the 1970s, in 1990s when they would become adults, the crime started falling. Want more support for this theory? In those states that had enacted legalized abortion two years earlier, crime started falling earlier. That’s no coincidence.

Isn’t that fascinating?

I recommend reading/listening to Freakonomics to find our this and other stories like that. It’s a very good book and a quick listen.

I love my 40+ minutes commute. Why? Because I am able to listen to great audio books. Mostly for free!

That’s just great.

Mostly free, how? Check out your local library. If they don’t have downloadable books, then I’m sure you can rent books on tape or CD. As I wrote before, Free Audio Books for Northern NJ Residents, in Bergen County, NJ, I can go to NetLibrary and pick from over 1000 audio books. Then there is LearnOutLoud.com, which has a lot of books for free (sign up for their newsletter to get updates on new titles).

You can also try Audible’s 3 free books (they have the largest collection), but you need a compatible MP3 player.

Before I listen to any book, I do some research. There are so many books out there that I need to filter them out and read the best. I usually check each book’s ranking on Amazon.com and read books that have a 4.5 stars or higher. This allows me to read the best books.

I also love autobiographies. Especially of the founding fathers. Wow, this is excellent stuff. I’m currently listening to Alexander Hamilton’s. I’m not only learning about him, I’m also learning about how America was founded. It’s a 30+ hour book, but I’m almost over (over a month into it already ). Great book and a great mind.

ReferenceNetLibrary.com, Download free audio booksbccls.org, Bergen County Library SystemLearnOutLoud.com, contains many free audio books

RelatedFree Audio Books for Northern NJ Residents, my previous post

Alexander Hamilton was a brilliant man. He was one of the most influential people in the American revolution. He did such a good service to America. He helped America a lot. And he was just a boy when he came to America, by himself, from the Caribbeans.

He was a great writer as well. His writings had great influence. He was writing to newspapers to promote independence. Later he promoted the constitution.

I heard about these stories in Hamilton’s autobiography, which I’m now vastly enjoying. It’s a fascinating audiobook. I love it.

But because I heard about his writings, I would like to read some of them. I searched for them today. And what? I found Alexander Hamilton’s Writings. It’s a complete collection of his writings. It’s a 1200+ pages book. I think I am going to buy it (probably rent it first from a local library).

As I’m learning more about Mr. Hamilton, I see that he was just as essential in the American revolution as the founding fathers.

I love these autobiographies from the American revolution.

ReferenceAlexander Hamilton

I discovered something new yesterday (wow, I’m learning a lot lately). I’m mostly discovering things I don’t know but probably should know. That may not be so funny, but that’s how it is: I don’t know a lot of things, sometimes even the most basic. But that’s why I learn and want to continue to learn for the rest of my life: lifelong learner?

What did I discover yesterday? Russian literature. Neven knew it was great — considered the best by many. Mainly, I discovered Tolstoy, Checkov, and Dostoevsky. Sound familiar? When I asked my wife, she said that of course she knows them. She does not remember any works by them, only that she had to read them and that she thinks that their literary works are tough to read. Well, that’s not what I discovered about them. Brenda Ueland, the author of If You Want to Write, book I’m currently reading, said that those were her favorite authors, mostly because they spoke the truth and wrote simple.

(If I’m on the topic of writing, that books is a gem. I’m learning that I should be writing from the heart. I should write of what I think, the way I see things, not the way I should see them. I am going to try to do that.)

So I got interested in the great Russian authors. I just ordered two books from them that contain a lot of their best short stories: Great Short Works of Leo Tolstoy and The Best Short Stories of Fyodor Dostoevsky (I want to read Notes from Underground right away). I’ll see if I fall in love with them as well. Judging by my enthusiasm level, which is high, I think I will.

I’m into history lately. And that’s only since I started listening to audio books. American revolution, the independence movement. Those were very interesting times. America was founded by several outstanding individuals: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington. Those are the ones that I came across. It’s fascinating to hear these stories. And you know what? I’m bad in history. I don’t know a lot of stuff. I’m learning a lot.

David McCullough is an interesting author, historian. If you ever get to read/listen his books, do so. You will be fascinated. Ever since I listened to his book on John Adams I’m in love with him. He knows how to capture your attention. On my must listen are his works: “The Johnstown Flood,” “The Path Between the Seas,” “The Great Bridge,” “Truman,” and “Mornings on Horseback.” Those are all excellent I hear.

I’m also into listening to biographies. I learn a lot from them. I like John Adams, Benjamin Franklin. They were very special people. They were constant learners, book lovers. They accomplished a lot in their lives.

I’m going to listen to more history, more biographies. Fascinating stuff.