We are celebrating in the Laight household this week.

My son got rather stellar A-level results, which means he can move forward with his university plans (I’ve put a very old photo of him to accompany this post!)

Way back when he was a tiny baby – one of the main aims of starting my own business was to spend more time with my him (and my future children!) and, if possible, afford the very best education I could get for them.

So I hope I helped him maximise his amazing potential.

This is something to consider if you’re thinking of creating your own course and turning that into a business.

While you might have many reasons for doing it, make sure you set yourself a real, tangible goal – something that will genuinely change your life, or a loved one’s. We will all have different goals…there is no wrong or right here – it’s about what matters to you. What do you find motivating?

For me, giving my son an education mattered so much because my own schooling wasn’t a great experience.

I didn’t get to go to university. And while I do regret missing out on that rite of passage, I try to remind myself that I’m thankful for the wonderful career I have now.

In fact, maybe missing out on University made me who I am.

Because here’s the important thing I want to tell you – and I honestly believe this is the best advice I can give anyone…

Why learning is essential, whatever you choose to do in life

My not going to university has had an unexpected side benefit…

It gave me a life-long desire to learn things for myself, driven by the fear that I had missed out.

I never wanted to sit among groups of my peers and feel uninformed or inadequate.

So ever since my 20s I’ve felt like I’m on catchup. I’ve hungrily swallowed up information wherever I could find it… from reading books and articles, listening to podcasts, to attending seminars and putting myself down for courses (yes – as well as creating online courses I am a passionate consumer of them!)

A lot of it was about marketing, business, communication, and online technology… the stuff which helped me create and run my business successfully.

But it also included health, diet, motivation, education, and parenting.

They call it “the university of life” but it’s so true!

Whether you had a good education or not, there’s no reason why you can’t keep learning… keep growing in confidence and understanding…. and get your own degree-level tuition in the things that really count.

After all, learning is not the preserve of the young, no matter what society tries to tell you. We all need to keep absorbing useful information throughout our lives, right through into older age.

After all, learning keeps your brain connections fizzing and your mind agile. And as that Henry Ford quote at the top of the email points out, it keeps you young – and who doesn’t want that? 😊

For instance, has the following ever happened to you…?

You’re in a conversation with friends and suddenly they discuss a subject that you haven’t got a clue about.

It can feel embarrassing, like you have a massive gap in your knowledge… or that you’re stupid…. or that you’ve become hopelessly out of touch…

Maybe they’re discussing a music genre like K-Pop or Trap, which you’ve never heard of.

Maybe they’re talking about cryptocurrencies or “non-fungible tokens” and you’ve heard of them, but don’t really know how they work.

Maybe they’re talking about the gut microbiome or some new superfood.

They ask what you think, and you just go…

“HUH?”

Well, this doesn’t have to be a problem anymore.

Because I have a brilliant bit of practical advice to share, which will start to plug any knowledge gaps effortlessly and very quickly indeed.

Introducing the ‘3 Article Technique’

The other week I was listening to a podcast by the lovely Emma Gunavardhana (also known as Emma Guns!)

(I would highly recommend her podcast (particularly the ‘feel-good habits series’, which you can find here).

She was explaining a clever but simple technique she’s developed for learning new things.

What she does is think of a subject that she either feels intimidated by, or which she doesn’t yet know anything about.

For instance, something that, if a friend brought it up in conversation, you’d not have a clue.

Maybe it’s something like….

What is ‘dark matter’ in the universe?

What are the main causes of global warming?

What is ADHD and what are the symptoms?

How do you invest in the stock market?

How do interest rates affect investments?

What on earth is TikTok?

Those are just off the top of my head – but it could be anything from the big topics of the day, to little things that confuse you, though you’re ashamed to admit it.

Now, your first instinct is probably to Google it and end up down a rabbit hole of links.

This isn’t the best way….

It’s distracting, you end up with lots of confusing and conflicting info that won’t stick in your brain for very long.

Instead, here’s what Emma Guns does…

After she decides on a subject, she spends a short amount of time on a Sunday Googling in search of three ‘entry level’ articles on the subject.

To find those, she types in “Where can I learn the basics of…..”

Then she emails those three articles to herself.

Over three mornings in the following week, she spends 10-20 mins reading one of those articles and absorbing the info.

By the end of each week she has gained a better understanding of that subject – easily enough to hold her own in a conversation, should it ever come up.

The key to this is that she does the googling on the Sunday and then puts the articles aside…

This is important, because if you are anything like me – once you start googling you lose all sense of time and get hopelessly distracted

So why not try it?

• Decide on a topic you want to be better informed on.
• Take 30 mins at the weekend to locate just three useful online articles.
• Then spend 10-20 mins each morning reading one of the articles.

Do this every week and within 6 months you’ll have educated yourself on 24 topics pretty effortlessly.

Job done!

And if you can pivot some of those subjects to those that are relevant to creating or marketing courses, even better.