Written by Philip Cockayne, Management Consultant, Chairman, Board Member and aspirant entrepreneur.
“Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”
― Jim Rohn
Have you ever looked back on your formal education (be that 11 years, 13 years, 16 years (including university) and beyond) and thought – did I actually learn anything of value?
One might argue that we are blessed to have a such an excellent system which promotes academic pursuits, critical analysis, abstract thinking and so on. Which is great, is it not?
But actually – have you ever thought that all the information you would ever need to, or even want to know, is already out there?
It is true that buried within books, the internet, collective knowledge of our parents and contemporaries lies more knowledge and life learnings than we could ever hope to learn within those years at school. What I believe is that people don’t make the most of the privileged position they find themselves in. A world where we have access to all of this knowledge and information. More than even the genius of Socrates or Descartes could ever possibly imagine. My question to you is are you making the most out of these resources?
My main problem with my education in England is as follows – it took me until I was 19 to realise that I actually enjoy learning. I enjoy finding out new things, reading books on certain topics, exploring what was previously unknown to me. Humans have an inbuilt curiosity which has a thirst for appeasement. The biggest failing of our education system is that it fails to address the following – “teach a child a love of learning and they will teach themselves the rest”.
So how do you take control of your own self-development?
How do you learn new things, meet new people, experience new experiences? How do you make sure that you can be the best version of yourself? I often find myself speaking to clients about an operatic organisation called Glyndebourne because their motto is “doing not the best we can do but the best that can be done”. The nature of referencing this quote is to encourage clients to think not only outside the box but beyond the box – toward the very implications of what perfection can look like. It is from there that they begin a journey towards self improvement which can often not be paralleled.
So, if you are currently unemployed or underemployed, I ask you the question again; how do you take control of your own self development? Where do you want to do with your life and in what direction? Better yet – where do you start?
If you want to go into Marketing management – how are you laying the groundwork for future employers to demonstrate that you have a firm understanding of Marketing Strategy, brand redesign, email marketing, social media, advertising and Pay Per Click? Who are you networking with in the industry, which great marketers do you follow?
If you want to go in organisational management – how are you demonstrating that you have a broad understanding of operations, commercial activity, finance, strategy, networking, stakeholder relationships and all other aspects that are important to those who work in organisational management? Again, how are you networking, what organisations are you involved in that let you test those abilities?
The list goes on.
All I implore is that you don’t wait for the world to come to you. Instead you focus on what you are doing to achieve your ambitions. I have a firm belief that you a worth more to yourself outside of work – you can achieve and grow more without the structured hierarchy that exists in the business world. So take control and ask yourself: “what can I do today to ensure a better tomorrow?”
“For the best return on your money, pour your purse into your head.”
― Benjamin Franklin
Philip Cockayne currently works as a Management Consultant with the Good Governance Institute (GGI) but, in his spare time is Chairman at the Yorkshire Group of Junior Chambers, Board Member at JCI UK and Get Out More CIC, Immediate Past President at JCI Bradford and is a passionate advocate for supporting businesses in unlocking the potential of their younger employees.
