A quote that is more true today than ever.
matthew henderson:
Good morning, everyone. It’s Matt from the Business Mind podcast. Looks like fall hit today. I know, yesterday I’m talking to you guys, I’m telling you it’s 102 in my car. Well, the day is different today. Very next day, 59. That is what New Jersey is like. There we go. That’s where we’re at with New Jersey.
…But I hope you guys are doing awesome today. It is cold and dreary in my opinion. Cold, because it was 98 degrees in my shop yesterday. Yeah, not the same day today, but that’s all right. We’re heading in and going to get a ton of good stuff done today. And today’s episode, I wanted to talk to you about an amazing quote I read last night and I thought, “Oh man, this is so true.” And I wish I had read it 10 years ago because my life would’ve changed.
Things would’ve been different or I’d probably be a little further along. You know what I mean. The quote I wanted to read to you guys today was from a businessman called Jim Rohn. And actually, Jim’s passed away. I think he passed away in 2009. That just goes to show you, this is not a new quote. But the saying’s true even more so today. His quote is, “Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune.” Amen.
It couldn’t be more true today than ever. And I’m sure when Jim Rohn put that together and said it, it was as much a truism back then as it is today. But I just feel like in today’s JIT learning, just in the time learning society that we’re in, it has become amazing to me how much you can learn in a short amount of time in order to make your goals and create the things that you’re looking for.
Sorry, somebody just literally pulled in front of me and started doing three miles an hour. And I’m not really sure what’s going on. Anyway, Sorry. You know we’re alive. But like I said, today it’s more true than ever. Back in the early 2000s and stuff, when I got out of college in 2000, it was, you had to actually go and physically get a book to read what you needed to learn. And then hope that you’re reading the right stuff so that you can educate yourself to the level you need to be educated.
And it wasn’t a bad thing. It was just, but as I’ve said in the past, and in other episodes for anyone who hasn’t listened to the past episodes, which are on Spotify. If you haven’t heard any, and you’re listening in on iTunes, I haven’t been able to get them to bring over all my episodes yet. But anyway, what was I just saying? Oh, so you would have to actually, one, you would talk to people. Which holy cow, today’s world, talking to people about stuff is a lost art. Nobody talks to anybody anymore. You send a text message, an email. Or better yet, you just go onto Google or YouTube and you find your answers for almost anything, whether they’re wrong or right. People go there and think that everything is like the word of God on YouTube.
But anyway, you can go on there and you can learn anything you need in a really short amount of time from a ton of different people. You don’t just get that 1% that if you were to say, read a book to learn about a topic or to educate yourself on a subject. I’ve gone really deep into digital marketing, digital advertising, sales funnels, website design, all of these things. All of these things. SEO, you name it, video, anything you can think of, if it has to do with digital marketing, I’ve gone now so deep into it it’s crazy.
And with some of it, I did take the traditional route and I read the books. I read the books. I actually wanted to read the books. Because when I start educating myself on something, I don’t want to just have a surface level education on it. I want to have an in-depth understanding of everything that
that subject has to do with. When I go to speak about it, or when I need to use the information, I’m not using just a surface level thing. I’m not just getting the tip of the iceberg. I’m educated on everything from top to bottom. And that’s where I go with it, so that I know if I’m in a group and I need to step up and say why or what I’m thinking is correct. I know that the place that I’m coming from is factual and as in depth as possible.
We’ve talked about it in the past episodes about further educating yourself and where it will get you and what it’s there for. And so many of us, like I was when I got out of school, I didn’t even think to go any further, because I was so tired of being educated after grade school and then high school and
then college. And then after college learning at my first few jobs, doing the in depth learning I did at those jobs, I was just, I was tired of picking up the books so back then I didn’t do it.
But in today’s today’s world, you can jump online and get your education today. And that’s what I want to urge everyone, and I have in the past, to continue educating yourselves. Because your education you got out of school is going to get you a job. It is going to take you somewhere. In my opinion, what’s going to happen is it might, depending on where you live, it might just cover your bills or it’ll give you, we’ll say, an okay level of living.
But that’s not what I’m looking for. I’m looking for an exceptional way of living. And for too long, I really sat back on my education and said, “Well, I didn’t slack in school. I’m not a dumb person. I learned a lot.” And I thought that, in my opinion, minimal education that you actually get from school would take me somewhere that would get me to an exceptional level in business.
And it didn’t. And after it took me way too long to sit down and figure out that, hey, if I don’t step up my own education, if I don’t take the bull by the horns, then what’s going to happen is I’m not going to progress. I’m not going to get to where I need to be. And I don’t know how many of you out there have realized that yet, but if you haven’t and this is the first time that this concept’s coming across your plate, then I’m going to go ahead and say, you need to start educating yourself quickly. Because if you’re not, everyone else around you already is, and they are going to surpass you.
And that’s the way you need to think about it. It’s survival of the fittest. If you’re at a job and you think, “Well, it doesn’t matter. My job, I’m the smartest person that does what I do,” whatever your thing is, it’s only a matter of time before the next generation passes you. And it might not take very long at all. It might not even be the next generation. It could be the person sitting next to you, at the next desk or the cubicle next to you, or sitting at the same boardroom table.
But it’s going to happen because they are going to take advantage of what they have in front of them. They’re going to take advantage of learning today. And they’re going to surpass you. And I tell you from a place of somebody who’s currently doing that to others. I have other people around me that feel that they can rest on what they already know. And that they’re the smartest person in the room in every room, is 100% where they thought they were.
And what’s happening now is, whether they’re realizing it or not. And in one case, I know somebody is realizing it. Maybe not accepting it, but they are starting to realize it. And in another case of mine with somebody else I know that I’ve done business with. And now I’m no longer doing business with. They felt that they were always the smartest person in the room and they never further educated themselves. They never grew past that point.
When I met them a decade ago, I would agree with them. They were the smartest person in that room that I met them in. Unfortunately for them, 10 years later, they made a number of poor business decisions, in my opinion, because of a lack of education. And they got surpassed by me, by almost everybody who was sitting at that same table with them. And I would say the guys that didn’t pass them that were sitting at that table, probably will in the next year.
And that’s why I’m no longer in business with that person or doing anything with them, because they just never saw that there was another level of education. They, like I said, always felt they were the smartest one there. And I don’t want that to happen to any of my listeners because you guys are the smarter ones. You’re already here listening. You’re already educating yourself on a daily basis with a quick, 10, 15 minute episode that I put on here.
But take what to learn here and go and take it to another level every day. Take what I’m telling you and apply it. Use these things to grow your business, your business acumen and to excel in the world that you’re trying to excel in. And that’s the point of the podcast. It’s the point of further education, and it certainly is going to be what saves you in the future.
Because if you think that where you’re at today is all that you need to know, and there’s never going to be somebody who’s going to surpass you, that’s just not true. And unless you’re rich enough to hire really smart people to stay around you, you’re going to wind up in a position where you’re getting passed by everybody else. That would be my suggestion to everyone today is to take the advice of Jim Rohn. And maybe don’t just focus on your formal education. It is going to make you that living. But self-education is going to make you that fortune.
I’m Matt from the Business Mind podcast. I want you guys to go out and enjoy your day today. Go and destroy your goals and crush them and push past where you think you’re capable. And if you have a chance, wherever you’re consuming this, wherever you’re listening, whatever platform you catch this on, please leave me a review. Let me know what you’re thinking of the podcast.
And if you have any questions or you would like to reach out to me for anything from business consultation to helping you get your business started, just reach out to me. It’s [email protected]. All right, guys. I will talk to you soon. Enjoy your week, enjoy your day. And I will talk to you again soon.