Education: Your Gateway to Opportunity
How does education create opportunity? By changing how you think and what you think about.
Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is recreation. … Knowledge acquired and applied with purpose-driven intention is life changing power…”
Education is the third plank of your bridge across the chasm, the gap that separates you from the where you are in and life and where you desire to be. The first plank is Your Code of Life and Living (The Code); the second plank is the Platform you choose as your means of expressing your purpose, identity, and vision.
In the context of the idea of your bridge across the chasm, consider this definition: education: the deliberate and intentional acquisition of actionable knowledge. Read that again: “… deliberate and intentional acquisition of actionable knowledge.”
The conventional or common definition of eduction is typically defined similar to this: “Education: the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.”
The point here is that education is not about the definition; it’s about the purpose one has for acquiring knowledge and what the intention is. Whatever your definition, philosophy, or thoughts, the value of education resides with the recipient. That would be you!
Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is recreation. It’s enjoyable, fun, and maybe even useful. Knowledge acquired and applied with purpose-driven intention is life changing power: the power to create and sustain momentum to move you across the chasm and propel you on your journey to fulfillment.
Your purpose and vision, and the identity you want to create, dictate the form, format, and source of education. Education is a “Means” as described in the article on Platform. It is a means of attaining one or more objectives in your plan to achieve your greater purpose and vision. That education can be formal or informal. It may be acquired from an institution of higher learning or from self-study. It is the intention for and the application of the education that matters, however you acquire it. What you do with it is the key.
An Important Objective of Education: Learning to Ask Better Questions
One of the most important reasons for getting clear on your purpose and vision is the quality of the plan you create and execute. There is a cycle that happens in life: Change-Growth-Clarity, Change, Growth, Clarity – a repeating cycle. Forward progress is all about change and growth. It’s the way it is.
Identifying what you need to learn and know is an iterative process. You step into your plan with purpose and vision, and from there you create an ever-evolving plan. That plan evolves, refines, and changes by asking questions. The more questions you ask, the better at it you get. The better the questions you ask, the better the answers.
In the beginning you may not know what you don’t know, nor what you need to know. That knowledge comes one question as a time. Education is about asking better questions that lead you to better answers, and that leads you to a better plan, and a better life.
