There are times when I’m asked questions by my kids like, “Dad, what’s the capital of X?” or “What does Y mean?” or even “How does Z work?”. Usually, if I know the answer (and I’m feeling generous), I’ll tell them the answer. If I don’t know the answer and I’m feeling a bit cheeky, I’ll just make something up until they question if what I’m telling them is really “true”…

Recently, I’ve been trying to stop this habit of telling them the correct answer. Yes, you read that right… I’m trying to STOP telling my kids what the answer is.

Now, before you jump to conclusions and assume I’m a “Bad Dad” for failing to educate my children, allow me to explain why I’m trying to change this habit.

And NO, I’m not the type of parent who thinks: “I’ll just leave the education part to the school system”. I actually like teaching and seeing that wonderful curiosity that comes from discovering something new and exciting.

Education is a wonderful thing… if it’s done correctly.

More often than not, my children ask me things when they’re sitting right in front of the computer. Now, I find this extremely infuriating.

Not so much because they’ll ask me stuff I don’t actually know. I’m actually fine being honest and telling my kids “I don’t know. What am I? An Encyclopedia?!?”.

And it’s not because they’re asking stupid questions. Being bright kids, there are times when they ask me things that make me reply: “That’s an excellent question!”. If you have kids, you’ll know that sometimes their perspectives on the world can really make you question what you previously believed.

Personally, I’m not the type of person to believe that there’s ever a dumb or stupid question. At some point, we’re all beginners and simply don’t know the answer. However, NOT asking a question - well, that’s really dumb and definitely will keep you stupid! It’s a choice…

So what if someone laughs because you don’t know the answer, right now, but as soon as you get it you’re a lot smarter than you were a few minutes ago!

Positivi-Tip: If you’re in college or learning in a class, the best thing to do is to “ask questions” and get the answer you need. I’ll guarantee you that there’s someone else thinking “Thank God they asked the question… I haven’t got a freakin’ clue what’s going on!”. If necessary (like having too many questions or the questions are holding the class up), then just make a note of your questions and then make time to ask the teacher to explain. It’s not a waste of the teacher’s time – that’s their job!

So why do I find the behaviour of asking me questions while sitting in front of the computer so infuriating? Because “we have the Internet!”.

And not just some crappy connection either! A very decent, broadband connection as having a fast upload speed was essential for the type of work that I used to do.

The reason why I find it so frustrating is that any specialised knowledge you seek can now be found!

There’s this thing, right, called “Google” (and other search engines) which do an excellent job of showing you where you can find what you want to know. We live in a world where you literally have “information at your fingertips”.

Better than that – a great proportion of the information that you can find is absolutely, 100% FREE. There’s bucket loads of the stuff – so much information that it would take several lifetimes to read, listen or watch all of it!

No matter what your “learning preference” is – whether you like to be hands on; listen and learn; see things being demonstrated or just like to read things – you can find tutorials that will show you how in the way that you prefer to learn. The Internet has really revolutionalised how we live…

So, why is it that people take this wealth of information for granted?

As Napoleon puts it: “Anything acquired without effort, and without cost is generally unappreciated, often discredited;” (p. 78). There is a cost to obtaining free education and also an associated price attached to the over-abundance of information:

We have in this country what is said to be the greatest public school system in the world. We have invested fabulous sums for fine buildings, we have provided convenient transportation for children living in the rural districts, so they may attend the best schools, but there is one astounding weakness to this marvelous system— IT IS FREE! One of the strange things about human beings is that they value only that which has a price. The free schools of America, and the free public libraries, do not impress people because they are free. This is the major reason why so many people find it necessary to acquire additional training after they quit school and go to work.

(“Think & Grow Rich”, p.78)

This is a truth. I can confirm and will tell you (from experience) that Napoleon Hill is absolutely right. People do NOT value “FREE” (I will tell you why in another post).

The true cost of knowledge isn’t how much money you spend on obtaining it (free or paid). The’s a price you pay by not realising that you have so much of it and making it become meaningless. The inability to realise the riches all around you is one way in which you will keep yourself in the Poverty Mindset.

The rewards that will come to you from obtaining the right information isn’t “knowledge” or “wisdom”. True wisdom is the application of knowledge – using what you know is far more important than “just knowing it”.

(*cough*… cheeky editorial note: “Make a Donation”, if you realise the true value you already have before you… *cough*)

My little girl (I say “little”, she’s 14 but she’ll always be “little” to me) is an absolute wizard when it comes to enhancing digital photographs. Okay, so she’s got an advantage because as part of my old work I needed to have Photoshop… but she found tutorials and taught herself how to manipulate digital images.

Yes, she actually took all of a few seconds to type in the words “photoshop tutorials”. Then she spent several hours just playing and discovering cool effects to add to her photos.

Positivi-Tip: If you find learning something new difficult, then here’s something I’d like to share with you about how my little girl learns. She doesn’t see it or think of it as “learning” – she’s just “playing”! Quite simply, all you need to do is to enjoy the process – you’ll find you learn a lot faster from messing about with things rather than thinking “I must learn this”. Again, I cannot stress enough the importance of “taking action” and putting to work the things that you know…

So let me make this clear.

If you are sitting in your seat right now, reading this blog post, then YOU HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE to say “I don’t have enough education”. No, really, you can stick that excuse in a dark place devoid of natural sunlight…

Right now – this very moment – you are sitting (or standing) in front of one of the most powerful sources of information that has ever existed.

The riches that you seek are at your fingertips.

If you’re still not convinced, then I’ll leave you with one word (slang) which may help you to be convinced of the power of choice and action: “Gimf” (a term that a lot of Techie-types may be familiar with. Note: if you’re easily offended, it is a bit sweary).

You know where you can find it… And if you really can’t be bothered to find out, click here.