The Guiding Principles of Future Education – Episode 254

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[00:03] Welcome to the Prosperity Podcast, fresh alternative personal finance talk for independent thinkers who prosper outside of Wall Street. Here’s your host, bestselling author, Kim D.H. Butler. Hello listeners and welcome to the Prosperity Podcast. Today we’re going to be talking about education. So if you happen to be a student or a student of life or have children that are students, this is an episode you definitely want to listen to. Kim, are you there with me? Absolutely. Hello, Spencer. Hey, it is always a pleasure to hear your voice and to speak with you and to get your insight. So we know that recently you’ve been having some of your children go through the education process and they’re learning quite a bit, but we want to look at education differently.

[00:58] So let’s start with some of these topics that come from our friend Peter Diamandis and talk about the guiding principles of future education. It’s so important that we talk about this because really future education means all of us. As an adult, we want to be lifelong learners and it’s so amazing, I think, to witness some of the people in my life that are in their 50s, 60s and 70s. So I’m thinking Dan Sullivan, Peter Diamandis, of course, and many others that are lifelong learners are continuing to learn every single day. And I firmly believe that as blunt as this sounds, we basically have a choice and it’s grow or die. And learning is a part of growing, right? Absolutely. I think learning is growing and there’s really no stagnation.

[01:55] I remember a conversation you and Tammy had that if we are not learning and growing, we’re actually going backwards. That’s right. And that’s why I don’t mind making that very strong statement because going backwards or dying in quotes, if you will, is really what is going on. And it’s easy, especially if you didn’t do well in school, it’s easy to just shove this off and think, oh, I’m not going to do that anymore, what have you. And yet, thankfully, in today’s world, there is such a broader definition of, quote, school and the things that can be learned and the ways that they can be learned are literally innumerable. And because of that, every single person can find their space. They can find their space for what to learn.

[02:49] They can find their space for how to learn. And because of that, it’s really so much easier to incorporate lifelong learning as a perspective. You know, I love to read. I will read any book that is recommended to me or at least look at reading it, but I don’t prefer to watch videos. Now I do still on occasion, of course, because what I want to learn is important enough to me that it overrides that natural disconnect from the video environment. And of course, I know other people do better with, say, podcasts or listening to books, whereas I would rather physically read the book. And one of the things that Peter Diamandis talks about, and I’ve shared this information in the past, is the concept of grit.

[03:41] And grit is such a great term, you know, we should look it up. I’m not even sure what the actual definition is. But to me, grit is having the overriding goal, your why, in other words, so clear in your mind that you’re willing to muscle through. That’s what grit is, muscling through, to me, the challenges in order to get the results that you want. And so if we shift this conversation to children and we help them decipher a goal that’s important to them, help them understand that school’s a game and these are the rules that you need to use to play the game, then I think it can really help the child that is not doing well in school understand and have the grit necessary to get through it. And it can help the child that is doing well at school be conscious of maybe

[04:41] taking it up a notch in the particular areas that they’re interested in learning about. Oh, that’s a great, that’s actually a great insight. Yes. Tell me, I know you’ve got the article in front of you. Tell me what some of Peter’s other thoughts are on education. I think they’re fun words to bounce off of. You nailed the number five, which is grit. And what we’ll do is we’ll circle back to the first one. And he leads out with passion. And it had me thinking, and this is the complex problem I’m always trying to solve, which is you can often hear about people saying a lot of kids in the new generation have ADD or attention hyperactive disorder, but they’re able to sit in front of a video game and play for hours.

[05:30] So, you know, creating that passion. So, one, how do we, how do we instill that passion in our children and in ourselves? Well, I want to bring in another important aspect here in addition to Peter’s comments about passion. And that is Kathy Colby’s comments about ADD and ADHD. And so Kathy Colby, for listeners that are not familiar with her, her last name is spelled K-O-L-B-E. So K-O-L-B-E Colby.com provides anybody a way to identify how they get results. And this is something that Peter Diamandis, Dan Sullivan, and again, lots of other people, Robert Kiyosaki has used her work for years, use this platform to enable themselves to figure out how they get results. And obviously, when you’re learning, you’re trying to get results.

[06:27] And so if you can identify something that you’re passionate about, and you’re right, maybe it is right now, maybe it is video games, and then you can identify how you get results, which is what Colby helps you identify. And it’s not a personality profile. Colby’s information is actually called Conation, C-O-N-A-T-I-O-N. And what Conation tells us is, again, how we get results. And so if you can combine something that you love, which is the passion part, with a knowledge and an understanding of how you get results, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an adult or a child, because there’s actually a Colby Y for youth, you can really do good with these two things, your passion and your knowledge of how you get results.

[07:18] And it enables you to overcome the typical environment. And Cathy says that there really shouldn’t be anything like ADHD or any of the other illnesses, if you will, because that’s really how they’re looked at, within the school system. Because what’s happening is the school system is very fact-finding, follow-through-oriented. It’s very fact and details, and it’s very systems-oriented. And there’s a lot of kids that are more what’s known in Colby language as quick start and implementer-oriented. And so your typical quick start and implementer child that wants to use their hands and wants to just jump in and often is going to be very passionate about things that are more physical, they’re not going to work as well in a

[08:08] typical school environment where it’s all about the books and the lectures and the facts and the systems. And so getting clear on these things, that that you’re passionate about, and then also that that you use to get results can be very, very beneficial for a child. And then, of course, for an adult as well, I recommend Colby to anybody that will listen to me talk about it because of how valuable the information is. I echo that 100%. So for myself, I took the Colby years ago. All of my team members have taken the Colby. And it is amazing because it helps you, when you take the Colby, understand where you really sit. I’m a very high quick start. So as you let out with this episode, school was actually really difficult for me.

[08:57] I did horrible. I did awful. But I actually had businesses in high school. And that’s what I did really well with and enjoyed. And so being a quick start implementer, sitting in class was terribly boring, which leads to actually the second point in Peter’s article, which is curiosity. And so let’s dive into curiosity a little bit more. Absolutely. I remember when our kids were young, one of them struggled also with school. And I really desired that the kids have reading time every evening. And so I just continued to chat with this boy about what he was curious about. Because if we could identify what he was curious about, then I knew that we could find things that he would happily read about.

[09:52] And so being curious is really a part of that lifelong learning attitude that we’ve talked about already. Being curious is what opens new doors. Being curious is what helps you identify what to learn about. And it’s not that kids don’t like learning. It’s that they may not enjoy learning about whatever the teacher wants them to learn about. And so, okay, fine. In school, you have to go through these steps and follow their processes, et cetera. But if outside of school, you can build in the ancillary things that the child is curious about, which you are curious about were business things, business processes, products, et cetera. That got your juices flowing, so to speak. And so like with our child that was struggling with this area, he enjoyed, are you ready

[10:42] for this, reading the manuals that went with the computer games that he liked to play. Wow. I know. So great. That was his reading time. And he loved it. That is pretty remarkable that you had the ability to see. And I think for all parents, what you instilled was the difference of going to school and checking off the boxes versus learning how to learn and learning how to think. Absolutely. Most people learn how to regurgitate information, but they don’t actually learn how to learn. So way to go, Cam. That was great. Great example. Oh, thank you. And that leads us to our next point. The third point of that is imagination. So let’s dive into imagination and how, you know, children and us as adults can apply

[11:39] that. Well, it really picks up on the curiosity part, because if you are free to imagine and free to play with things and experiment a little bit, then you have the excitement that goes along with that. And there’s always a place for facts and figures and systems. I get that. And yet, imagination brings opportunity and passion. So these terms are all interrelated and enables us as individuals to pursue areas that we might not have thought about, that might not fall into our normal day-to-day lives. So I’m thinking again about it, both adults and children, and imagination and having time to imagine and space to imagine is where creativity is brought in. And then that can fuel the passion and, you know, that just continues upward from

[12:39] there, because, as I said, these are all interrelated. And yet, so much of our lives is highly structured. We get our kids, I think, too busy involved in this activity and that activity, and they’re not allowed to just play. And in play is learning. And we know this because of all the things out there that are trying to be gamified, right? It’s like we’re working backwards. Why not just come up with the play first, rather than come up with what we want done and then work backwards and try to gamify it? Not that I’m not for that. I think that’s a very valuable thing as well. And yet for the child to just have some space and time to imagine and for adults to have space and time to imagine. Same deal. Adults heavily overscheduled.

[13:27] Dan Sullivan likes to say an overly-scheduled entrepreneur cannot imagine. And it’s because they don’t have time and space to imagine. So whether it’s you just take 10 minutes at the beginning or the end of the day and maybe journal some ideas or whether you have a special thinking spot. I even am aware and I can’t remember which corporation it is. But there’s a big corporation somewhere that made a room in there in one of the corner offices, like a nice space. And it was the Imagineer Room, kind of like Disney’s term, Imagineering. And it was the space that people could go to just be quiet and think. And no computers were allowed, of course, no phones. And it enabled those with that entrepreneurial mindset to be able to create

[14:12] new things and it enabled others to be playing the supportive role and to just think and imagine. What a great idea to help adults expand on their capabilities as well. Yeah, that’s brilliant. You know, as you were saying that, I had a thought come into my head and I guess that comes to my imagination. So I’m going to connect a couple of things. Yeah. As you were saying this, I was thinking, OK, we need to allow that space for the kids. And, you know, in your example of that space in an office place or even doing it at home where you can imagine. That’s wonderful. But you have to set up the structure to do that properly. And then I thought about a principle of prosperity. And my mind raced to the Emergency and Opportunity Fund.

[14:59] And I thought, well, if a person doesn’t have that principle of the Emergency and Opportunity Fund in place, they can’t really imagine what their future will be like because they’re so worried and preoccupied about the present. Absolutely. That’s a constant issue. And I even find it in myself. I’ll get caught up in some present thing that’s going on. And often it is related to cash flow. And so the building of an Emergency Opportunity Fund gives us that space literally, figuratively and financially to then be able to go forward and maybe to experiment a little bit. Imagination and experimenting, of course, are connected. And maybe even it’s just the space to say no to a particular client and instead

[15:50] take that time to even go back to some of the classic writings of like the difference between working on your business and working in your business. If you have an Emergency Opportunity Fund, you have the space to work on your business. If you don’t have an Emergency Opportunity Fund, you’re constantly having to work in your business. And so there’s a double value there, not only personally, but professionally in the presence of that fund. Brilliant, brilliant. Now, the fourth part of this article is talking about critical thinking. And I think that is, you know, definitely a different skill set than imagination. But you can’t apply imagination to it. Absolutely. And critical thinking is, as we’ve identified, often not being

[16:40] taught in the schools these days. It’s more regurgitation. And the space, again, to have the time to think, the capability of critically thinking through that, the acceptance of failure and how important failure is and learning from our failure, I think, goes with the importance of critical thinking. And just identifying that learning should be about learning how to think. It shouldn’t be about facts and figures and systems and following them. And so that critical thinking element, in whatever way that can be introduced and then continued, because I know for myself, obviously, school was 30-some years ago. And yet, I still need to be consistently developing the ability to critically think about things.

[17:40] And it’s challenging because I, too, initiate in Quick Start. And so I tend to be the idea-go-idea-go person. And yet, how important it is, especially in business and even in our other relationships, to occasionally take some time and stop and maybe do a little bit of research or develop a little bit of a system and then do the going. And to me, that’s what critical thinking is, is the stopping for the research, the thinking through, and then also the development of a system. You know, I think on the podcast, you’ve explained a couple of things that have been really instructional for us listeners. And that is, every morning, you take the time to walk down to the barn and you’re having almost like a morning meditation.

[18:29] That’s a great critical thinking time. Would you maybe help our listeners understand a little bit more about that process and how it helps fuel your day? Absolutely. So, barn not required. I am going to say that being outdoors is super valuable. And I realize, obviously, not everybody can pull that off, you know, weather permitting, et cetera, et cetera, but there is something about being outdoors that just really expands your mind. I don’t know if it’s because I literally don’t have a roof over my head or because, you know, the wind is blowing, maybe, you know, clearing out the cobwebs in my brain or something. And yet, obviously, there’s times when that’s just not available. So, okay, fine.

[19:10] Of course, you know, pretty soon we’re going to be able to put on our virtual reality goggles and, quote, walk outside, even if we’re not actually walking outside. And also, I think the physical act of the exercise that goes with that, I know many, many people that when they really need to think through a problem, will go to the gym or go for a run or what have you. And just that out in nature space, so valuable. But I also think that it’s super, super valuable to listen. And I think many times we want to humanly engineer and we think that we need to be actively thinking when maybe what we need to be doing is actively listening. And so, I always try during my time in my walk to the barn to be more

[19:59] in listening mode than I am in an active, proactive, if you will, thinking mode. And the two definitely go together without a doubt. But I find that the listening part and, okay, listening to who or to what? Well, sometimes it is maybe just listening for my own thoughts. Sometimes you could say it’s listening to God or to a higher being or to spiritual ideas or to inspirational ideas or to your subconscious. I mean, all of those. And it’s going to be up to each person to identify what they’re listening to and how they get the best results. But I think it’s important that we remember to listen. I think so as well. You know, this has been a really fun episode. And for our listeners, regardless if you’re listening to this episode in

[20:48] your car or at the gym or maybe while you’re taking a walk to do some thinking, the title of the podcast is very intentional, the Prosperity Podcast. And it’s not just about prosperity financial, but it’s about mental prosperity, emotional prosperity, family prosperity. And, you know, it’s remarkable that this podcast isn’t necessarily getting into financial data, but this information is the stuff that will help you feel fulfillment. How would you like to wrap up this episode, Kim? Well, you know, we always begin with gratitude. We’ll just go for ending with gratitude this time because I’m so grateful for our listeners. I’m grateful to each of you for the questions that you come up with, for the ideas that are put forth.

[21:36] Spencer, I’m also grateful to you for helping me with this because I think our listeners enjoy having just a second voice and certainly better than me just jabbering away because you come up with such great questions and good articles for us to expand on. And I really encourage people to send in questions. They could be personal financially related or they could be of anything that you’re curious about back to the five things that Peter talks about. So the email for that is hello at partners, number four, prosperity.com. Thank you for listening to the Prosperity Podcast. To take control of your money and have it work for you, visit us at partnersforprosperity.com. If you liked this episode, make sure you subscribe and leave a review.