On Sept 9 2017, I went on a TEDx stage in one of the best universities in Malaysia, and started my speech by saying “I am here to make you quit your university today”.
I was expecting dead silence, but instead I received a big round of applause in the first 10 seconds of my speech.
Awesome!
The reason I mention that is because I believe there is a deep explanation for that surprising response..
You see, we all know that our standardised education system is outdated, we talk so much about it and keep beating that dead horse. What we are really seeking now, is a solution to escape that outdated system and not face the consequence of being a failure in life.
And I am here to suggest that solution.
It is a continuous circle with 3 fundamental elements, that I call the Wheel Of Modern Education, and it empowers anyone to sit in the driver’s seat of their own education, and design their own life.
Let’s begin.
There is no
better time
to build
yourself
THE AGE OF SELF-EDUCATION
We know that the “standardised” education system is outdated, it was built for the industrial age and hasn’t been updated for over 100 yrs.
We don’t live in the age of standardisation, we live in the age of customisation (the information age) and for the first time have the privilege to customise our own education like never before.
There are websites like edx.org where you can take all the classes that MIT students take today, for free.
Or you can go on udemy.com and buy any course below $200 from photography to programming, turn your passions into professions.
We have that privilege today.
We have never had this much and this easy access to information before.
But if customised online education alone was the solution to the problem, we wouldn’t be talking about changing education system today.
YOUR TRIBE
Customised self-education is important but is not the only thing that matters. And unfortunately, even the most forward thinkers of our times only focus on this aspect of “Self-education”, and miss THE MOST POWERFUL aspect of our education.
The story of Elliott Bisnow is the perfect example for how you take your education (and your life) to the next level.
In 2008, the 23yrs old Elliott was starting out as a digital entrepreneur living in Utah, a very cold State in USA.
As an entrepreneur he needed to learn & educate himself constantly. He had a lot of unanswered questions and didn’t know who to ask. So he picked up the phone, and started calling all the successful young entrepreneurs in the country. The calls went something like this..
“Hey, I am starting out as a digital entrepreneur, and I am inviting some really cool digital entrepreneurs to hang out for a skiing trip in Utah, would love for you to join. And you know what, I will pay for your trip”
Elliott took $50,000 in credit card debt and invited over 50 digital entrepreneurs for a weekend in 2008, but then he was on to something..
The following year, 200 people came and this time, they paid for themselves.
The year after 700 people came, and they paid.
Today, he gave birth to what we call the Summit Series. It’s one of the most exciting business conferences in the world and people like Richard Branson and Jeff Besos attend and speak at that conference.
Elliott was voted as INC. Magazine’s Coolest Entrepreneur of the Year 2009.
Did you notice what he was doing?
He was bringing together people with similar interests, similar problems, and similar lifestyles together. And that is the most powerful ingredient of our education, our tribe.
Find your Tribe.
You see, human beings are social animals. We naturally seek connection with people who are like us; people with similar interests, similar problems, similar lifestyles. And we thrive in that environment, that’s where we share the latest practices, we learn from each other, we teach each other and grow TOGETHER, as a Tribe.
This is the hidden element of modern education that unlocks massive success and fulfilment.
And it’s never been easier to find your Tribe.
If you are a programmer today, you can go on topcoder.com, they have turned programming into a massive online multi-player game. They make money there by taking on projects, but they compete with each other, they teach and learn from each other and grow together as a Tribe.
And there is a Tribe for literally everything, it doesn’t matter if you are a programmer, a musician, a photographer, a doctor, a dancer, an entrepreneur, you name it. All it takes is a Google search.
In the world we live in today, its never been easier and more important to find your Tribe.
And when you find your Tribe, something really interesting happens.
DEEP IMMERSIONS
On May 28, 2017, I landed in Barcelona and joined about 400 people from 50 different countries that relocated to Barcelona for a month to go deep into the field of personal transformation. This event was called Mindvalley U
For the next 30 days, in the day we would have inspiring workshops & classes from some of the best teachers in the world, and in the evenings we had spaces to connect deeply & meaningfully with our Tribe. We partied in the streets of Barcelona, had dinners and deep conversations with each other, and reinforced our connections with our Tribe.
This is what I call, a Deep Immersion.
Deep Immersions are powerful. These are events that happen for a really short period of time where you come together with your Tribe and go deep into your interests, stir some emotions, have a lot of fun, and create lasting memories.
Every time I come back from any event like this, I come back with a list of books I want to read, courses I want to take and classes I want to enrol in. That ties back into my “Self-Education” again.
THE WHEEL OF MODERN EDUCATION
And that’s how Self-Education, My Tribe and Deep Immersions form what I call “The Wheel of Modern Education”.
The beauty of this framework is that you can start at any one of the 3 places and one leads to the other, and it never ends..
.. and why should it end, when our education is this exciting and fulfilling 🙂
You see, we idolise people who quit their education and do great things in the world; our Mark Zuckerbergs, our Elon Musks, our Einsteins, our Richard Bransons, our Mark Twains..
But if we look closely, the smartest people in the world, the Outliers, the Game-Changers, the Moonshot takers..
..they NEVER quit their education, they simply escape the outdated education system.
I hope this opens your mind to a different perspective of education, and you take this framework to drive your own education.
You can watch my TEDx talk on “The Wheel Of Modern Education“, to see how I apply it in my own life and how this is really a template that enables us to become the Dean of our own never-ending University.
I would love to know what you think about this framework and how you have been driving your own education in your own life. Let me know in the comments below 🙂
Love, Gautam
