How to be a Learn-it-all Instead of a Know-it-all

Did you know or realize that 51% of North Americans have not read a nonfiction book past high school? Whether you believe this to be true or not it’s 100% fact.

That means that 51% of North Americans feel that they got everything they needed to learn from high school teachers. Eventually what that ends up leading to is failure. Because, you’re basing everything you know on a bunch of teachers who may not know everything.

One of the things that had to happened in my life in order for me to achieve some the things that I wanted was to stop being a know it all and basing my opinions on things that I’ve heard about, read about or talked about and to actually learn from people who had what I wanted and for that you need to become a learn-it-all instead of a know-it-all.

One of the ways that I found to learn things really fast and retain a lot more is to use the following five guidelines.

1. Keep an open mind. People who are know-it-alls generally have very closed minds. The things that they know are obviously things that they’ve heard about but not necessarily things that they’ve experienced. The number one reason why people are not open to learning is because when somebody else comes across their life that seems to know something more than they do it makes them feel bad and they want to avoid feeling bad at all cost. So therefore they keep their minds closed in order to avoid being hurt.
2. The willingness to accept guidance. the reason why most people are not willing to accept guidance is that they would rather be right. The reason why you would rather be right is because it feels bad when you realize you are wrong. Therefore, many people avoid being wrong by forming strong opinions which keep them on the side of right. However, being right all the time means you are not open to accepting guidance from others. Especially guidance from others who have what you want. On planet Earth you can either be right or you can have what you want but in my experience you cannot have both.
3. Energy. Energy is everything. Right down to the smallest subatomic particles everything on planet Earth is made up of energy. Humans emit two types of energy; thought and feeling. Feeling is a much stronger form of energy and attracts like energy. Therefore if you are feeling negative you attract negative occurrences. If you are feeling positive and supercharged you will attract huge amounts of success. Staying inside of your comfort zone may pay off by keeping you safe but it will certainly not bring you what you want. Only when you focus your energy on what you want and take action towards that will you see any results.
4. Participation. Planet Earth requires you to participate in something if you want to learn. People generally do not participate because it requires a commitment on their part to going after something. This is scary for many people because they are afraid that they will fail. However, show me someone that does not make mistakes and I’ll show you someone that just watches television. The ultimate mistake. Life requires participation it’s the only way to learn and the only way to gain experience.
5. Have fun. Many people go to work day after day because it’s important to pay the bills. The question you have to ask yourself is, “how much fun am I really having?” Therefore, if you are not having fun you are not engaged in what you are doing and therefore will attract more of the same. The reason why many people are unhappy is because they are producing the same results day after day never realizing that the very thing that they have chosen to do is not any fun at all. Therefore, when you are not having fun, you are also not attracting what you want in life. Love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life.

I usually lay out these ground rules at the beginning of each and every seminar that I give. It sets the framework for learning and allows people to understand that without these rules it would just be another boring seminar. Engagement is key to success in learning. And following these five rules will allow all of us to share in the learning and get much more out of what we are trying to do and what we are trying to accomplish.

Thank you,

Paul Tobey