While educational system is an important and an integral part of the society, it has become heavily overrated. Statistics have shown that many of the people who graduate from college often use only a small percentage of the skills that they learned from college.
When you consider the huge amount that is spent on tuition fee, one may think of learning as much or more from college.
The monopoly on education that college has, has ensured that many high paying jobs will hire only those who have a degree from a recognized college or university, which may force students to opt for studying at premier educational institutions.
Those who are self taught, or who gained their knowledge outside the college system may have no chance to apply.
One must note that there are a multitude of skills which are simply impossible for you to effectively learn in a class room environment. One of the biggest life skills that you can develop is the ability to create a network.
Networking
A network is critically important for success in today’s world; no one person, no matter how talented they are, can do everything by themselves.
Some of the most successful people in the world are often individuals who had an enormous amount of people working in the background; this network of individuals helped them reach their goals.
Henry Ford and Bill Gates would not have achieved their success had they tried to do everything by themselves.
At the same time, being successful in this capacity requires you to be good with people. You must be likable, sociable, and respectful, and you must be able to bring skills to the table which no one else has.
The only thing worse than not building a network is building a network with the wrong people. Networking with the wrong people can destroy you. This is a common problem that many people make, and the consequences can be dire, even fatal.
As you progress throughout life, you will find yourself encountering different kinds of people, some are not intelligent and are not well read. It is better to avoid individuals who tend to have a negative outlook on life, and tend to waste their time doing unproductive things as opposed to trying to better themselves.
Speed Reading
Another skill which can prove to be highly valuable is speed reading. Knowledge is power, and the one who has an edge in knowledge is the one who will have more chance to win and succeed.
Speed reading is a real skill that you can develop, and acquiring it will allow you to cover enormous amounts of material within a short period of time; while others make guesses about how the world works, you will be able to make decisions based on the vast amount of knowledge which you have read about, and it is easy to see the power that you will gain as a result.
There is no substitute for reading, because television or mainstream magazines will rarely provide you with the critical knowledge that you will need to survive and prosper; these sources of information are fed to the masses by the editorial elite.
Goal Setting
You will not make it far in life if you do not know how to set goals. Most people have no goals, or their goals are vague (to get rich, buy a house, get a high paying job, etc).
Successful people set real goals, specific goals that will allow them to get the things they want. Then, after setting the goals, they actually work towards them, because talk is cheap, and actions always speak louder.
