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A Post on How to Educate Yourself

Don’t let school interfere with your education.

Mark Twain

You know how some things hit hard only once you experience them yourself? This is a quote. It hits me hard only when I’ve completed my schooling and am just in that in-between phase before college.

Things are going to change. I can feel it.

And I can also feel somewhere inside my heart, that things are going to change for the better.

You know this saying:

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. – Nelson Mandela.

Turns out, education is also the most powerful weapon you can use to change your own life. And if your life is already in that phase, education is the boat that keeps you floating, keeps you going on.

Now, this blog post will tell you all the sources that I have realised I can harness the power of, to educate myself. And they’re working. They’re hard, and uncomfortable at first, but I’m positive that they will do something for me.

On that note, I’m not going to tell you all that generic stuff—read books, listen to podcasts, watch the news and documentaries. Everyone knows that you don’t need a manual for it. Just know that books, documentaries, all that educational stuff, does help.

How to educate yourself? This is the stuff I think should be talked about more.

You should not let school interfere with the education that you need to provide to yourself to reach the greatest potential that has been planted within you. No matter if you’re still in school, or long out of it, today’s the right time to educate yourself.

Read the list. Thank me later.

How to Educate Yourself (Just For the Fun of it)

#1 Learn Psychology.

This actually wasn’t going to be the first in the list, but I decided then that it’s pretty important too. Human psychology is in huge demand. Everyone wants to know what the other person thinks. And knowing what’s going on in the other person’s mind might as well be a superpower.

You’ll never know what all secrets the human mind contains. But, try to find out.

#2 Soft Skills.

Forever helpful. Help develop our personality and aid us in whatever career we choose. We’ve literally got so many resources right in our hands that if we actually put our mind to it, learning anything is possible.

#3 Solve the Crossword.

I’ve recently got this obsession of solving the crossword even when I have no idea what’s being talked about half of the time. There’s just this drive. I wanna finish a crossword by myself, (without consulting Google, that is). And trying to put your brain to use to find out the different, unusual words is a pretty great way to educate yourself.

#4 Play Scramble.

I find all of that cool stuff in my daily newspaper. It’s got sudoku, crossword, scramble, Spellathon and comics strips all on one page. It’s like I’ve got homework every morning for the rest of my life.

#5 Make a Swipe File.

It can be anything. I like the art of advertising and how clever and absolutely cool some advertisements are. That naturally drew me in to copy-writing and I’m trying to learn more of it now. But your swipe file can be regarding anything. It can be in your gallery, it can be in a manila folder on your desk.

The assignment: collect everything that interests you. News articles. Anything that seems useful. Photos. Paintings. Book pages. (Try not to tear them out, though.) Your own personal knowledge bank.

#6 Solve the Rubik’s Cube.

Education, though, doesn’t just have to be purely literary and stuff. It should also make the brain work. So, solving the Rubik’s cube as you cast an eye occasionally to the crossword and reorganise your swipe file can be a nice past-time activity. And more, you can show it off to your friends.

#7 Read Newspapers.

Maybe not the crime news (that could mess up any humans’ mind) but the business and education and sports and global and op-ed section. They’ve got some pretty valuable information there.

#8 Haunt Wikipedia.

Okay, I’ve recently got this hobby because I saw a bunch of Wikipedia sister projects: Wikiquote, Wikibooks, etc. And they all have got this bunch of free stuff, a million articles (including articles in all languages) to explore. I mean, learning has never been easier for us than in this age; if you’re a fan of learning random facts, words, quotes, poems, you should download the Wikipedia app now.

#9 Forums.

They’re not proper social media sites so you can’t really waste your time there by scrolling through your friends’ latest photos (unless your end up reading all the million comments on a popular thread). So the thing is, if you don’t read newspaper, you can get to know so much from these Forum sites, have meaningful discussions if you’re in for that. Just keep one thing in mind: never argue with strangers on the internet.

#10 Coding.

If you’re in for that, sure. I’m just looking for the right time to learn C++ so that I can design my own game software and make millions.

#11 Learn a language.

Fun Fact: I’m learning Japanese. From Duolingo. My goal is to get the basics done so that I can join a Japanese course in college. Everyone’s teaching, you just have to learn.

#12 Check Out Game Theory.

It’s very interesting, trust me. And plus, there’s a YouTube course by William Spaniel for that. And he’s an amazing teacher who properly explains everything so you can learn even if you’ve got no prior knowledge.

#13 Use YouTube the Better Way.

Not to watch funny videos and then read the comments to pass the time and come across one that says “Anyone here in 2024?” and then answering “Yaas” with an emoji wearing sunglasses.

😎 This one, precisely.

I don’t even understand the meaning of it, what’s the point? Why not instead use YouTube for learning, gaining knowledge from the countless amazing teachers there?

#14 Learn This Amazing Skill: Persuasion

One book recommendation from me would be: Influence: Science and Practice by Robert Cialdini.

#15 Have the Drive for Knowledge

This one had to make it here. If you have the drive for knowledge, to learn more stuff, to keep learning, keep growing, keep developing yourself, then you don’t even need a list like this one. You’ll just find around yourself countless ways to gather knowledge.

CONCLUSION

Comment below if you’ve got any other tip like this to gain immense knowledge from the stuff around you.

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