We’re taught in life to be quiet rather than loud; standing out from the crowd is a bad thing. It’s only to be done by successful people, people that can wear the cap.

As we start out as a toddler we start problem solving. We look at the world around us and learn to adapt. We race through our development gates like there’s no tomorrow and yet suddenly when we get to school we slow down.

Now I don’t want to take away the fantastic contribution schools make to our development, I for one would be an entirely different person, but I’d like to impress upon you the effect of framework on our society.

The moment we go school is the moment our freedom to learn independently is taken away. From that point in, for better or for worse we learn through a structured framework provided for us by others.

That frame work constrains us, it teaches us our culture and how we should operate within it. It gives us our moral compass and refines our attitudes to the world.

From the moment we enter school we’re taught who we are and more often than not, we’re told to seek security over doubt.

Doubt is created when your stand apart from the crowd. You’re basically sticking your head above the parapet and asking to be shot.

Well I’ve got news for you. If you want to succeed in life you’re going to learn to not just look over the parapet but go running head first into no man’s land.

Society teaches us that there’s no difference between arrogance and confidence, but in truth there is. Arrogance is when you claim to be able to do something but can’t. Confidence is when you make the same claim and can.

As a society we revere the cars we drive and phones we use as amazing pieces of equipment. We post them all over Instagram and polish them on weekends and yet we forget that the valuable asset we will ever own is ourselves.

Our left foot is more amazing than any car on the market today, when did your car last heal itself?

There is nothing more advanced than the human brain. It’s an incredible thing and yet we sit there and marvel at a computer.

Computers, cars, phones, whatever they may be they cost money; but your brain came for free.

Your brain is your best asset. You need to invest in it.

In order to do so doesn’t mean just getting an education, it means learning to free your mind from the constraints placed on it since you went to school.

You have to recognise the box that we live in and learn when it is constraining your mind.

As intelligent as we are, we are victims of our hormones and animalistic tendencies. We let emotions cloud us, or our sense of right and wrong.

We think that because something is unjust that it won’t happen. We believe in things like Karma because they promise retribution in the end.

If we cleared all these human constructs from our mind at the moment of crisis or when we need to think, then we can truly understand the world within which we live, react to each situation effectively and learn from our mistakes.

There has never been a better time to equip yourself with tools you need to succeed. Not only is there a wealth of free information available at the touch of a button, but the quality of information available through literature is extensive.

I read every night without fail. I don’t read fiction, I only read books of opinions or experiences so that I might learn from other people’s mistakes or successes and enrich my own knowledge base.

While I might have faith in my own ability to learn from my experiences I know enough to confidently say that I am one single human it is impossible for me to experience everything in life.

I was lucky enough to get a decent education and that education was built upon the wealth of knowledge of people that had gone before me. Yet we over value education when it is real experience that counts; or at least the lessons we learn from the experience that matters most.

If we can read about other people’s experience and learn from them, while adding to our own capabilities then we can make our own brains a better asset every day. Two lessons for the price of one.

As a society we’re taught that someone else is the genius. We’re told that rocket scientists or doctors are better than us but they aren’t. They just have more specialist knowledge and a piece of paper to prove it but in business there’s no real qualifications other than the wealth you amass.

If you want to amass wealth and prove everyone else wrong then you need to give your brain the best chance it can get by filling it with wisdom.

Chapter Summary:

• Your body is more incredible than an iphone
• Invest in making it better
• Being better isn’t just about physical improvement, it’s about mental ability and how you deal with problems
• You don’t need to pay to improve; the internet has made a wealth of self-help material available for free

Read our next blog post “The 24hr rule”.