This is the question Hill poses, and goes on to explain that education is not the determining factor in successful wealth creation.
What is education, anyway? …
“As far as schooling is concerned, many of these men had very little. John Wanamaker once told me that what little schooling he had, he acquired in very much the same manner as a modern locomotive takes on water, by “scooping it up as it runs.” Henry Ford never reached high school, let alone college. I am not attempting to minimize the value of schooling, but I am trying to express my earnest belief that those who master and apply the secret will reach high stations, accumulate riches, and bargain with life on their own terms, even if their schooling has been meager.”
I told you before this theme would be recurring, and it will again after this.
Education Plays A Minor Role
As Napoleon Hill says, no one is arguing that education is useless, but education alone is not enough to build wealth. You must also know the important elements to successful wealth creation, those that are not taught in school. Like Napoleon Hill, we reiterate this point at Universal Wealth Creation and throughout our materials because we know that anyone has the ability to get rich and live better, and we know that you were not given the most effective education for wealth creation at school or college. And that is exactly why books like Think And Grow Rich or Mindset Mastery can be such a help to people. They have the ability to make you realize and discover the information you do need in order to find wealth and success.
I will see you back here Monday and Thursday every week for the continuation of the Mindset Mastery series.
Sean Rasmussen
Success Communicator
SeanRasmussen.com © 2004 – 2008
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I stumbled upon your website some time ago. I am thankful that I did. Your messages sent to my e-mail have made all the difference in my perspective lately. Your messages have given me hope and inspiration. Thank you.
Thank you, Jodie. I’m happy to help.
I had this very argument with two close friends of mine over the weekend.
One of my friends was telling a child off because they were not getting good grades.
I proceeded to ask if anyone in the room had good grades. One friend put his hand up and said I did – with which I replied, and what do you have to show for it – he said nothing!
The other frind then got angry with me, and said why do you think we are telling our kids to get good grades. At least they have a better chance; and what’s more we want them to have what we don’t.
And herein lies the problem. You can tell a child until you are blue in the face that they are better off in life if they get good grades etc, but if they can look at you and see something toally different, it wont change things.
Whether you were a flop at school and didn’t get too far, or you were good at school but struggle financially it doesn’t matter. If the child sees any form of struggle this is what they will associate with – not your words!!!
And it is this that I could not get my friends to see.
Children are bored, they listen to rap music, they get into trouble, they commit crimes, they show a lack of respect and on and on it goes – but is it any wonder. It doesn’t seem to matter if the parents had a good education or not, everyone is struggling in the eyes of our children.
This old disciplinary form of telling the kid to sit down and shut up and learn is useless. It does nothing but create a wide gap.
We need to inpire our children by focussing our efforts on being passionate in life. Live in peace with yourself, serve the world, and enjoy doing it, and the rest (financial well-being, great relationships etc) will follow.
Dean
Dean
I don’t know if you will ever see this comment but for the sake of it I think your thoughts on education are so true.
Children are so impressive and they really do have that monkey see monkey do mentality, they always watch what you do.
Many adults still don’t get this!
Elly´s last blog ..
Well said, Dean. Passion is the key – and leading by example.
Another point I’d like to share is from Dr John Demartini. He says that you need to communicate with peoples “Values”. If you can get a kid to relate learning to their value system they will all excel. If a boy is interested in riding bikes, then relate his learning to bikes. How will be be able to ride his bikes more “because” of having good grades?
Why is it a kid “diagnosed” with ADD can focus intensely on a video game for 5 hours and know everything there is to know about it? That is hardly attention disorder! The kid simply has attention for what is in his “Values”.
If you can tell the kid that and make him believe it – he will achieve it!
Hey Sean,
Although I’m replying 2 years after you wrote this, it’s just as relevant today, as it was two years ago, as it has been for years before that.
With my current J.O.B., the people I’m working for are great in one particular aspect of the business, but in my area, they aren’t quite as switched on, although they claim to have had the experience to know what they are talking about. (I’m a cook, who has been working in Hospitality for the best part of 20 years, they have been in the Bar trade for about 15, and in the last 3 years, they have bought their first business which is a bar with a kitchen!) About 18 months ago, I disagreed with one of the decisions that they made with regard to the Functions menu (basically they opened it up for the clients to suggest whatever they wanted and we would do our best to provide it, which makes it an ordering and presenting nightmare!)
For a few months, I was mentioning, on occasions, why it was a bad idea to have this one line on the Functions Menu, but they couldn’t see my reasoning. It wasn’t until I explained it to them in relation to an alcohol-based example that they could see what it was that I was trying to say. Soon thereafter, the line was removed from the function menu.
Whenever I have to explain a course of action to someone, or expand on my reason why, or why not, to do something, I always try to know what their interests are so that I can make it easier for them to relate to!
Just a thought!
Cheers,
Pete
Pete´s last blog ..peteboyr: @bullhunter Thanks, Sean. Just reviewing the webinar, and will get to your blogs after that. Big night ahead, pizza on the way!
Education is a life-long learning process. It’s a shame that most people equate schooling with education and totally overlook other important educational inputs. The example set by their parents, where they are taken, how they are mentored, what opportunities are afforded to them and how the parent responds to the child are all aspects of education. Travel is education. So is reading and basically every new expereince that you expose yourself to is education.
the gradual process of acquiring knowledge and knowledge acquired by learning and instruction all adds to a persons education
Hi Sean,
I agree that formal education is not a guarantee to wealth and success. We are not taught how to have the right mindset to create wealth and the life of our dreams. Maybe if the success principles were taught in school, we would be more successful.
I really appreciate that books like ‘Think and Grow Rich’ and ‘Mindset Mastery’ exist and that men like you Sean, are willing to share their knowledge and experience with those of us seeking to improve our lives.
Hi Sean,
I think also that parents and possibly teachers as well gave kids negative thoughts about money. I know I had some of these when growing up, such as.
* Money is the root of all evil. (message is money is bad)
* Money doesn’t grow on trees (giving a message of scarcity)
* Your health is your wealth
* Money doesn’t buy happiness.
* Rich people are mean with money.
* People who are rich are crooks.
Negative thoughts learned as a kid about money need to be deprogrammed out of the thinking and replaced with positives thoughts on money into the subconscious.
Jill.
I can’t deny the value of a good education. It brings people out of poverty. It helps women to avoid forced marriages and unwanted pregnancies. It’s what the United Nations is working towards bringing to every child in the world because there are children who, in 2010, don’t go to school because of forced labour and other situations of poverty.
But no ONE factor, is the key to success. It’s not just having the thought. It’s not just having the faith. It’s not just the talent. And it’s not just the education. It’s a whole combination of things.
I disagree with the subheading, “Education Plays a Minor Role”. It plays a huge role. It’s easy for us to take education for granted in Australia where education is free. And where ANYONE can go to school. In this country, if you talk about education, it’s easy to say, “Well, I actually meant a formal education, like going to uni” because primary school education here is a given. And where literacy rates are so high, basic reading and writing skills are a given.
Lina Nguyen´s last blog ..Richard Branson Business School: A day visit
“It’s easy for us to take education for granted in Australia where education is free”.
I absolutely agree Lina.
Education – learning something and applying it – and that’s why I am here.
Jo Carey-Bradshaw´s last blog ..Empowering Mindset – Mindfulness
That was my nutshell above – “(the books) have the ability to make you realize and discover the information you do need in order to find wealth and success.” This is what I interpret education to be, and while I agree schools often impede as much as they enhance thought, Lina has a point too. New ideas and knowing how to achieve the fulfillment of new ideas, is what it is about. I am learning to embody new concepts and techniques, and so I am being educated. As Lina points out – I/we have an advantage over some, in that I/we have more opportunities than lots of others on this planet because of freedoms I have enjoyed that others are still seeking.
These books are changing that.
Jo Carey-Bradshaw´s last blog ..Empowering Mindset – Mindfulness
I guess these days with all the technology and the fast pace everything is going basic formal education gives you a necessary start. But today, like in Hill’s time, it doesn’t guarantee you anything. We need to make sure our kids learn about passion and living it.
Renee´s last blog ..Definition Of Motivation
Hello Sean,
Actually the schooling system is not working for our kids. If we had a system where the children learnt what they wanted at a pace that they could keep up with, imagine how much smarter they would all be? Because they would be self-taught, which means that because they are passionate about a particular subject it would soon become like second nature to them and they would learn from more than ever thought possible.
There is a school in America (there is a book written about it) where the children only learn what they want to learn. Teachers are there to assist and help – but only when asked to. They followed up on a few of the students after they left the school and all of them were highly successful. There was one boy who all he did for his entire school life was to fish. I was amazed when I read the chapter about the boys, but at the end, it tells the readers how he became very successful and very rich!!! Once the boy decided he had learnt all he could at fishing he turned his determination onto computers and became a successful with computers.
Now that is the way to have an Education
Cheers
Lisa
Lisa Wood´s last blog ..Listening To My Boys Needs
Hey Lisa,
While I won’t deny that I’m neither a parent nor been involved with school for a good quarter of a century (damn, that just suddenly made me feel very old! *LOL*) I do agree with you that the school system has been letting down the last generation (or two, at the very least) of kids. You only need to look at the standards of basic reading, writing and arithmetic (how many times do you go into a local corner store and if there is a young kid behind the counter, they need a calculator to add up just basic items??) The system doesn’t want to be seen holding those back that need the extra attention, or are unable to give them the attention they require when they are there!
And the most recent ‘let down’ is that the grading system has been changed so that there is no ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ as they don’t want to give any negative connotations, which means that they are even further off the base of preparing kids for the world at large. Once they leave school, and apply for a job, they are going to be told ‘No!’ and not know how to handle it!
Just a thought!
Cheers,
Pete
Pete´s last blog ..peteboyr: @bullhunter Thanks, Sean. Just reviewing the webinar, and will get to your blogs after that. Big night ahead, pizza on the way!
Having read Think and Grow Rich numerous times at a young age, I did apply some of the principles to my work for a wage life. Sure, the guys and gals with the degrees often got ahead of me but what got me close to the top of my organization, and ultimately ahead of them, was persistently doing that little bit more that those with the degrees. At the end of the day the bosses want productivity, not fancy pieces of paper, and I ended up supervising people with degrees that I wouldn’t employ if it were my business.
Wal Heinrich´s last blog ..Think And Grow Rich Mindset Mastery
Hi Ray,
I see your reasoning. We can be narrow minded about the meaning of “education” by believing it means only to attend university. This could be the focus in the article as well.
In reality education starts from the day we’re born and never stops being a part of day to day living. During a lifetime we have, discipline, schooling, training, instructions, love, enlightenment. Knowledge is gathered to fulfill all areas in our lives as a part of living.
The article is highlighting that an academic education is not a requirement to become wealthy, contradictory to the teachings of an academic education. This is really good news for people who are less fortunate then ourselves or who may not have gone to university.
Jill Brown´s last blog ..Common Law Marriage – What is Common Law Marriage?
Hi Sean
Well you really got a good debate started here!
Education, formal or otherwise is a huge debate. I am all for a good solid education while growing up and having been to a few poverty stricken countries now, I feel great gratitude for my schooling. Being literate has given me choice. One of my joys is providng funds for education to children in India and Indonesia, and these children love going to school.
Lina’s reply has very good points about the pro’s of a good education.
Having been a teacher in the past, I can honestly say one of the biggest impediments to a child’s school learning was the attitude of their parents towards education. I found that most children can only go as high as their parents own expectations around education. Too often, nowhere near enough reading was done with and to the child in their formative years, and way too much television watching and/or computer games.
We are so fortunate to have free education in this country and have the best of both worlds. Basic learning at school and life learning when we leave. Who is to say we have to know it all at 18? Education is an ongoing process.
As Bill Gates said in one of his great speeches… “If you can read this, thank a teacher!”
Blessings
Elly
Elly´s last blog ..
Hi Elly,
I think it would be awesome if every child could be guaranteed access to a great education. I think it would give them a much better basis to be successful in life.
There are some parents who just don’t understand the value of an education for their child. I think often times they didn’t enjoy school or didn’t do well and so it rubs off on the child. It’s definitely frustrating.
Jazz Salinger´s last blog ..Sean Rasmussen – Aussie Internet Marketer Making a Difference
I believe basic education is important. From there, I think that our school systems do not prepare our children for success. Many teachers prejudge some of their students and fail them miserably by refusing to give them the simplest of things, belief. It is difficult for a child to believe in themselves if no one else does. Belief is empowering, lack of it brings an emptiness ever yearning to be fulfilled.