There is a great wealth of knowledge out there quite
literally at our fingertips, but too often we let those opportunities lay
dormant. You can download most any book in an instant and either listen to it
or read from a device, or – if you are really old-fashioned – you can order a
hardcopy, and Amazon will ship it to your doorstep in just a few days. Digital
copies are oftentimes free, or available via very reasonable subscription
services and hardcopies are about as reasonably priced as I can ever remember.
In addition to that, you can watch lectures and speeches from nationally
acclaimed speakers for free on YouTube. Elite lecturers from top Ivy League
schools from the likes of Harvard and Yale post their talks as well. And you
have access to all this without even getting off the sofa! You can get a
fantastic education in almost any field of study, from some of the best
instructors on the planet, for the cost of mostly effort and intentionality.
Yet I hear so many excuses from people who are unwilling to
take advantage of this incredible and unprecedented access to information. What’s
more, many of these limits are self-imposed. “I don’t have time,” one might say
and then five minutes later fill you in on the latest Game of Thrones episode
(yes, I realize the show is over, but you get my point) or tell you about the
latest housewife to be voted off the island (is that a thing, do they do that
with housewives?). The one that really gets me though is when people say they
aren’t “smart enough” to learn or don’t commit to books because they “don’t
read well.”
This is like saying I don’t lift weights because my muscles
are weak. That’s exactly why I need to lift weights, so I can get stronger!
Don’t get me wrong, I understand some may have a natural proclivity to learning
and a seemingly inherent bent towards reading, but that doesn’t give the rest
of us an excuse. It just might mean you read one book a month instead of one a
week or ten books a year instead of twenty. But just like the guy at the gym
picking up dumbbells for the first time, everyone starts somewhere, even if
it’s the little five-pounders, you need to rock those nickels! Begin where
you’re at but don’t stay there.
Ignore your own excuses and embark on the adventure of
lifelong learning.
Comments
Post a Comment