One of the greatest and most powerful tools I’ve discovered in my life is self-education. Learning shouldn’t stop when you leave school. Life is a constant learning experience. But self-education, man, that’s where the rubber meets the road for me.

I have three degrees—an associate’s and bachelor’s in business administration as well as a Juris Doctor (law degree). But I will tell you the truth: while they have been very useful in my life, my ultimate success truly came from self-education.

With my three degrees, I was making around $150,000 per year. Surely nothing to sneeze at. But when I started investing my time and energy into my own dreams and desires, that’s where things really took off.

I guesstimate that I’ve read somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 – 15,000 fictional novels in my life so far. When I finally decided that I was going to write my own first book for real, I thought my previous reading would be enough. It turned out that it wasn’t. I’d absorbed through osmosis tons about writing amazing fiction, but I still didn’t know the basics or the building blocks to create my own. There are basic things I just didn’t know about that are absolutely vital to creating the kind of books I loved to read. So how did I bridge the gap? After months of spinning my wheels, I dove hard into self-education. It felt like procrastination at the time, but it wasn’t. I read and studied books about how to write books. It was from that self-education that I learned the things I didn’t know that solved all of the problems in my manuscript, and eventually, allowed me to finish it.

My college creative writing class didn’t teach me that. Actually, it made me hate writing, to be honest. No one taught me how to write amazing fiction. No one told me how to become a successful self-published author. I figured it out and learned how to do it myself.

Self-education unlocked massive doors that led me to my destiny and this life beyond my wildest dreams.

My self-education has continued on since that first writing craft book I picked up. I haven’t stopped learning about everything that interests me—from spirituality and metaphysics to fitness, health, and nutrition (yes! I read books about that too, even living with Jake—and the books helped make everything he was trying to teach me click for me), and beyond.

The best part about self-education is that you get to direct your own learning. I only read books or take classes that I’m really interested in. The ones that really call to me. I don’t read any books that I feel like I “should read”. I only read the ones I really want to read.

After several years, I realized that the Universe is an active partner in my self-education. Almost always, I stumble upon exactly the book I need at the right moment. It contains exactly the information I needed to learn to take the next step on my path.

I will learn from anyone—another author, the Universe, Jake, friends, strangers, creators of online classes, or basically anyone else willing to share knowledge that interests me. I don’t discriminate. I eat up knowledge and integrate it into my life for my own best interest and the best interest of those in my circle. I love to learn. It’s one of my greatest joys and guiding values. It has also given me the financial freedom that comes along with earning millions as a result of what I’ve learned and applied in my own life.

If you feel stuck in your life, try learning something new. Not what you think you “should be learning”, but something that actually interests and excites you personally. Something that feels like fun. No one else has to understand or approve of what you’re learning either. It doesn’t have to make any sense to anyone, even yourself. Just follow your interest. Follow your excitement. Learn what feels good to learn. Assimilating that kind of knowledge can turn out to be completely life-changing. Plus, you’ll likely feel more confident, capable, and powerful in your own life, and that feeling can change everything.

Self-education is truly one of the greatest gifts you can ever give yourself. And if reading books to learn isn’t the answer for you and you need more structure to your learning, that’s cool too. Everyone is different. There are tons of great online classes from people who have all sorts of different kinds of knowledge to share.

But definitely don’t feel like your local colleges are the only places that you can learn. I’m a big fan of learning from people who actually do. Not just those who teach.

Never underestimate how far you can go in this life. I don’t care how old you are or what your past looks like or where you started out or even where you are right now. You can change everything. You are so capable. You have everything inside you that you need. Follow your heart. Listen. See where it leads. You never know where you could end up—like a life beyond your wildest dreams.

“Invest in yourself. It always pays dividends.” That’s something Jake says all the time, and he’s been one of my greatest teachers in this life. Knowledge is everywhere—and knowledge is power. Scoop it up and use it. It could be the thing that shifts you onto the path where all of your dreams come true. After all, that’s what it did for me.

Sending all my love,