Education is everywhere. There is formal education like college and graduate school, vocational schools, personal growth books, courses, seminars, and much more. There are so many choices—it can be confusing and overwhelming. Many people end up going to college but then stop their education after that.
I made a very similar mistake myself. I went the traditional four-year college route, worked a few years, then went to law school. Related: Zero Regrets: My Failed Attempt at Law School. During the years before, and for several years after law school, I didn’t invest one cent or minute of time into education. This was a huge mistake.
I may have read a few books for pleasure, but I can’t remember reading anything of substance during that time period. Jim Rohn said, “formal education will make you a living, self-education will make you a fortune.” I was the beginning of that quote. I was making a living, but nothing beyond that.
It wasn’t until I started investing in my education that I transitioned out of just making a living. I’m now a big believer in education, but it has to be done the right way, and for the right reasons. Here are various scenarios in which more formal or informal education makes sense.
Provides You With Skills to Better Serve Others
The biggest part of what I do involves communication. Writing blogs, books, and speaking all involves communication. It’s my way of getting my message across to better serve others.
Communication is something I know I have to be really good at. So I’ve invested a disproportionate amount of time and money into education revolving specifically around communication.
One thing in particular I noticed about my communication was that my voice wasn’t as strong as I wanted it to be. Sometimes I felt like my voice could be monotone and even fade out at times. I also noticed my voice would be tired after speaking for longer amounts of time. Rather than feel sorry for myself or give up, I purchased a voice training program to strengthen my voice and speaking ability.
Ten minutes a day for a couple months with this program really helped. I feel like I’m a much more powerful speaker now, and I continue to implement the things I learned from that course into my everyday voice. This was money well spent, and something I know will really help me communicate better with people.
In addition to the voice training, I’ve also invested money and time into books, seminars, and other trainings revolving specifically around communication. Since communication is such an important part of my career and life, I plan on investing a lot more money and time into it in the future as well. My communication skills are a work in progress and something I’m continually looking to improve in.
In other types of work, the acquisition and implementation of skills are likely to allow you to serve others better. You will also become a better employee or business owner. An employee like this is much more likely to be promoted to greater responsibilities and pay because they are serving others better. As a bonus, serving others better is usually rewarded with more financial compensation.
It Moves You Up the Pay Scale
It’s always nice to make more money for doing the same job. Many jobs automatically move you up the pay scale once you submit proof of additional education.
As an example, there are many public school districts that offer higher compensation to a teacher with a master’s degree or more units. It might be as simple as taking a few college classes to move over on the pay scale. A lot of teachers find out they’re only a few units away from making more, even without having to get an advanced degree.
If a teacher is 7 or 8 units away from moving over on the pay scale, it’s probably worth the time and effort to take a couple college classes to get those units as quickly as possible. Calculate the cost of the units versus the pay increase and make a decision from there.
Hypothetically, if 8 units costs $1,900 and the pay increase is $1,200 per year, then it makes sense to get those units as quickly as possible. Although there are some upfront costs, in less than two years you’ve already made more ($2,400) than the units cost. Over a five-year period, that’s $6,000. Over ten years, that’s $12,000. And over a 20-year period, that’s $24,000. That’s a really good return on investment if you ask me.
As another example, nurses with a master’s degree make a median of $55.80 per hour versus $38.28 per hour with a bachelors according to Nurse.org. Although getting an advanced degree is a big time and financial commitment, that is significantly more money for doing the same job. For a nurse working an average of 40 hours per week over the course of a year, that comes out to $701 each week and $36,452 for the year!
Note: Much of the information in this section originally came from my blog: 5 Ways to Make More in Your Career Without Switching Jobs
There Is a Specific Skill You Want to Build On
This relates to the first section about acquiring skills to better serve others. Skills come in many shapes and sizes. Communication, as mentioned above, is a very broad and big category that takes years and years to hone. There are many other skills though that can be learned very quickly.
Picking up little skills from time to time can really help improve your life and job performance. Learning something like Excel or Google Docs is relatively quick, but can make things run much more smoothly.
I recently began utilizing a program called Convert Kit. It allows me to send out emails much more efficiently, send more personalized content, provide free downloads to readers, automate my emails, and much more. All of these things have added value to readers and made my life easier at the same time.
The education required to learn this program simply involved a few tutorials and then trying things out on my own. That’s informal education that really didn’t take a lot of time, but is providing me with great benefit.
It Builds Up Your Connections and Allows You to Learn From Others
A learning experience like seminars and conferences can really build up your connections. Think about it, people attending conferences are all interested in the same subject. That allows you to meet like-minded people with similar goals. It’s a goldmine of learning potential.
For example, if you’re attending a conference for real estate investors, all the attendees are interested in investing in real estate in some shape or form. There will be differences of course—some investors may be interested in single family homes, while others may be interested in vacation rentals. Others may be focused on apartment buildings.
The common theme though is that everyone is interested in real estate investing in some shape or form. Even if the niche is different, you’ll still be able to learn from each other and make connections. You’ll also be able to build up trust with others, which opens doors years later to work with each other.
Lastly, people in the same room with similar interests creates a sort of magic. Knowledge and information is shared, and new ideas are sparked. It’s what Stephen Covey referred to as synergy in his classic book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The ideas you develop with others at a conference or seminar can be translated to your daily work, making you better in your career.
It Improves Your Life in Some Way
This is a very broad category. Both formal and informal education can improve your life in myriad ways. In addition to the ways already discussed, here are a few more examples:
- Deepens your knowledge base
- Helps you optimize your life and career
- Something you just enjoy
- Gives you a needed spark
- Improves your life in some way
Growing and developing is a major part of what separates successful people from others. Bo Schembechler, legendary University of Michigan coach said, “Every day you either get better or you get worse. You never stay the same.” Education helps you get better.
How has education benefited you?
