I self educate all the time. It's the only way I feel that I actually learn and retain info.

Interesting

Superb advice as always.

The biggest lesson I was taught at school was that there are much better ways to learn than sitting in the chair in your standard classroom.

Taking personal responsibility for your own education is one of the most important things you can do in life.

"Never let your schooling interfere with your education." - Mark Twain

This post gives perfect advice - to go out and learn something hands-on as opposed to just reading a book about it. It's like sex; you're only going to get good at it if you practice. Reading a book on it will not help one bit.

"School tends to restrict our definition of what education is. In particular, scholastic education is a one way street."

That's my new favorite quote! I learned more about life during one year of volunteer work in South Africa than I did during my 12 years of the public school system. Being "street smart" is ultimately more valuable than being academically smart, IMO.

I've found that, for me personally, mixing travel and private classes in a field I'm interested in is the best solution. I used to just read about subjects I was interested in, but I found that it rarely gave real world results.

Case in point, I just got back from 5 weeks in Ecuador, where all I did was take Spanish classes, singing classes, and salsa classes. I still paid less for the entire month than I would've in the States for just one class. And, most importantly, I learned more in those 5 weeks through all the private tutoring than I would have in months of self-education through books and internet resources, saving me lots of time to pursue other goals.

What do you mean by start a business? As much fun as I would have in doing so I simply don't know how it would be physically possible. Like renting out a store front? Commercial rent is expensive. So Tynan, in your eyes what is a business? My eyes I see a store.

Brian: A business is anything that tries to make money. It doesn't have to be a storefront, although even that isn't as impossible as you think. Look around at stores you see - do you think all of those people were wealthy when they started their stores?

What I had in mind as I wrote it were online businesses. Anything from creating a web app to selling drawings on etsy.

Tynan

"Before you read a (non-fiction) book, commit to making at least one concrete change before you read it. Then when you read it you will pay more attention to how you can apply your knowledge, which is the whole point of getting it in the first place."

I agree with this in part. Because you can't know how valuable you will find the information in a book until you read it. Better, then, to commit to making at least one concrete change, after you have decided that what the author offers is something you agree with.

I recently read a really excellent book on how to read actively and increase the amount of information you can get from a book by having a dialogue of sorts with the author. It's called How to Read a Book, by Mortimer Adler.

For many years I have read in the way that most people "surf" the internet. One book prompts me to investigate a subject more, and leads me to another book. That book onto another, and so on. Quite soon you will find that you have a really great knowledge of certain topics (sometimes quite obscure ones). I have found that this knowledge has been extremely useful in my professional life, as so often somebody will mention a book that they have read, and I have also read it or have read something on the same topic and can discuss it with them. Other times, they mention their hobby and I am able to talk to them about that too for the same reason.

The overall philosophy that I use is that I read what I find interesting, without regard for whether I think it will be useful or applicable in my life. When something is interesting and I feel enthusiastic about it, I often then find a way to make it apply to my life. If I can't, then perhaps one day in the future it will.

Brian/Tynan: a good example of a business you can start is something that offers a service.

For example, I'm in the midst of starting my own doula business (if you don't know what a doula is, check out http://www.dona.org/mothers/index.php). Not only am I delving into being a business owner, I'm implementing Tynan's suggestion about having a purpose in mind when picking up a non-fiction book (there's copious amounts of reading, and the stuff required for certification only scratches the surface).

The experience has edified me!