10 Education Topics for Financial & Intellectual Freedom

Archimedes in his Bath - UMIST

Education, Education, Education! THE.CONTENDER and Mrs C were fortunate to have a very good education. THE.CONTENDER studied sciences and maths before obtaining a masters in Chemical Engineering and Environmental Technology from UMIST (University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology). Mrs C is qualified in both French and English law. Both of us had a passion for learning and this has opened significant doors for us in adult life.

In this post THE.CONTENDER is going to cover what he considers are the 10 missing parts to his real world education which would have enabled very early retirement and how they fit into the CALP (Contender  Awesome Life Plan)

To start this round off with some low blows, here is a critique of subjects THE.CONTENDER has studied:

Reading, writing, grammar and languages: Core skills were taught, unfortunately not enough emphasis was placed on reading and communication skills (such as presenting to a large audience).

"Listen very carefully I shall say this only once" Allo! Allo! THE.CONTENDER was also taught French and German. Both are useful, unfortunately being brought up with the British mentality that "everyone else can learn English" languages did not really interest me at the time. Subsequently being married to my French wife and having worked extensively in France and Germany it really is a shame I did not put more effort in! Our three-year old understands more French than me - boy am I in trouble if I can't understand what she says it is bad enough with the wife! Sacrébleu!

At this point of the blog, Mrs C took the keyboard from me and typed this:" after all these years, and with the dream of moving to France everyday on our mind, THE.CONTENDER still makes NO effort whatsoever to speak French (the French method book by the bedside table does not count, it is not even open and has never been read)". Then THE.CONTENDER has managed to get the keyboard back from his adorable but persistent French wife.  

Maths and Sciences: What can I say THE.CONTENDER is a scientist and has an Engineering Degree so I really like these subjects.

Maths - regardless of personal interest, you must be good at simple APPLIED maths. How to budget, compound interest (the key to financial freedom) measure up a table. I have used a bit of advanced maths down the years but that is limited to algebra - other than that only teach advanced maths if needed at a later date (college \ degree).

“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest” - Albert Einstein

Chemistry - a simple overview is very useful to understand when people talk about acids (bad for the skin) what is added to foods and baby bottles. It is useful to know how to make common useful compounds such a vinegar - at the very least you want to understand the chemistry of alcohol and potassium in water is cool!

Biology -  learn about your body what is good for it and how it changes with age - hopefully you will learn how to control some of those urges to have kids too soon in life with your new found knowledge :) Good place to chat girls up though....

Physics - learn about the universe and why when you jump off a cliff you fall - interesting inspiring....

Timbuktu Mosque

Geography surely you should know where Timbuktu, London, Texas and the North Pole are. You should also know a bit about terrain and the impact of weather, other than that we know volcanoes pour out hot stuff isn't that enough?

Religious Education - The tribe considers a spiritual education is important but believes this should be given outside of the education system. We take our eldest to Sunday School each week and our youngest will start as soon as she is ready. 

Home economics - Parents should cook with their kids at home! Unfortunately a lot of parents are too busy to cook healthy meals from scratch and kids need to learn good eating habits from their parents. Besides if you cannot have fun with flour and eggs in school making lemon drizzle muffins what is wrong with this world? Even worse have you heard about British students starting uni this September and not even knowing how to boil an egg, let alone make their bed or anything remotely practical?

History - we do not learn from past mistakes such as the Weimar hyper-inflation in Germany leading to the rise of the nazis.

Sport - one of the little joys in life - get muddy, have a scuffle on a Rugby pitch - build character teamwork and camaraderie.

Information Technology - a bit of a given nowadays - THE.CONTENDER hopes everyone can actually use a spreadsheet and finish an assignment without being distracted by surfing ;o) Perhaps parents and schools could teach how to avoid online advertising (Firefox has a very effective free advertising blocker)

Please read on for the 10 missing parts to THE.CONTENDER 's education



Art and Technology - Isn't it nice to visit a gallery and ponder what the hell was that artist on?

Woodwork, metalwork etc on the other hand are great for those hair brained do it yourself moments in life. THE.CONTENDER just hopes they teach how to wire a plug properly.

At College THE.CONTENDER studied advanced Maths, Physics and Chemistry then onto the Chemical Engineering University Degree.

Right all good so far? I did learn SOME useful stuff . The sad thing is I was also taught A LOT of completely useless stuff that I would never need again. This was a waste of valuable time when THE.CONTENDER 's learning prowess was at its peak and (bad) habits were being built for the future.

So THE.CONTENDER left the education undercooked and under prepared for the real world. This was not to my benefit. It was to the benefit of businesses and the taxman though....

THE.CONTENDER needed an income. Business knew they could pay me "market" rates for a graduate - a paltry £18,000 that was 15 years ago. THE.CONTENDER had to survive on this in the south east of England, one of the most expensive places to live on the planet. They knew they could overwork me as I needed them more than they needed me. I was young, keen and willing learning just what they wanted to mold me into a good corporate professional. Being the perfect "professional" they dangled the carrot of work hard enough and one day you could be a vice president (and work harder still) in front of my nose - whoopee this work stuff is fun!).

THE.CONTENDER has covered off where he went wrong in his early professional life in other posts Brainwashed and Family Financial Freedom in 7 Years!

“In our dreams, people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands.  The present education conventions of intellectual and character education, fade from their minds and unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk.  We shall not try to make these people, or any of their children, into philosophers, or men of science. We have not to raise up from them authors, educators, poets or men of letters.  We shall not search for great artists, painters, musicians nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen — of whom we have an ample supply.  The task is simple. We will organize children and teach them in a perfect way the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way.” - John D. Rockefeller  General Education Board (1906)

Have you been through a similar path to THE.CONTENDER? Have you the same feeling that you were not fully prepared for life in the real world? Please read on to see what THE.CONTENDER believes were the 10 key missing pieces of his education that our children should get - hindsight is a wonderful thing;) Secondly what life long learning, of real useful skills, is being built into the THE.CONTENDER Tribe activities plan CALP (Contender Awesome Life Plan)

The Case of the Missing Education

Out of university 14 years ago THE.CONTENDER not prepared for....

1. Being proactive
2. Interpersonal skills such as listening, compassion
3. Expressing my views clearly and simply
4. Presenting ideas simply that engage people (a big challenge for this blog)
5. Lightening up :o)
6. Meeting people's needs - making sure it was from their perspective
7. Budgeting
8. Planning ahead, growing up and gaining some wisdom and responsibility

Well knock me down. THE.CONTENDER was the same as all of the other graduates (and friends) THE.CONTENDER knew. Perhaps it was just the circles of people THE.CONTENDER was in, or was there a deeper issue with missing education? I pondered this for a while.

Here are THE.CONTENDER 's opinions, the 10 missing parts to THE.CONTENDER 's education (and growing up!), what do you think? Comments and ridicule at the end of the post please.....

1. Psychology - a basic understanding of human nature such as herd mentality, reaction to stressful situations, why people do what they do and how people are influenced and controlled.
2. Logic training - problem solving is part of life; the better you are at it, the more successful you are for a job and daresay more successful in your private life as well.
3. Presentation and sales skills - presenting yourself well, an idea or a product are important skills for that all important promotion or setting up your own business.
4. Financial planning - how to be financially independent as quickly as possible! How to invest in stocks and bonds etc. and how to plan large purchase such as a home through a mortgage (Early Retirement with a Mortgage? - 15.7s).
5. Career path planning - THE.CONTENDER will cover all of the mistakes he made on this later. Ideally a mentor will help you out with this (find a good one yourself such as your businessman grandfather or family friend) to start off though an overview of what you need to learn to get ahead in work or how to start your own business is needed.
6. Life planning - how to plan out what your goals and dreams are and how would you plan to get there. Who can you go to to get some wisdom on this and what are the RIGHT questions to ask?
7. History of real money and wealth, the "system" to control populations, inspirational leaders and historical gaffes!
8. Understanding who you are and what makes you tick, what are my skills and weaknesses and what does this mean to other people who deal with me (try the Jung Typology Test) THE.CONTENDER is ENTJ Extroverted Intuitive Thinking Judging.
9. Practical skills (again I am practical but I would have liked to have a go at building a wall plastering it and adding some electricity fixtures and plumbing in school. A bit of gardening and more home cooking would not have gone a miss)
10. Philosophy and Art - THE.CONTENDER likes to ponder (Michael Craig's glass of water is an oak tree?) so THE.CONTENDER naturally likes to philosophize. Is this not how some of the greatest forward thinking ideas came about?

Fortunately you can learn a lot of the above topics from some excellent books please see CARL (Contender Awesome Reading List) for some ideas.

Key Concept: Continuous learning from sound foundations, of all important areas of life, really set you up to succeed. By questioning and critically reviewing everything you do puts you in control for what is best for life long happiness.  

THE.CONTENDER has come across parts of the list above. THE.CONTENDER has practiced some presentation skills in school, but professional training was superior. THE.CONTENDER has looked after his finances but did not realise their worth. THE.CONTENDER found out stuff that he really should have been pointed to in the first place on the internet. THE.CONTENDER was JUMPING MAD MAD MAD he had to find this on his own. Why in the hell do we not get a real education in the first place? THE.CONTENDER 's head was filled with a lot of useless junk instead...

What THE.CONTENDER would have liked to see was a checklist of life skills and be able to talk them through on a regular basis with a mentor. Would this process create more well-rounded, capable individuals for society? THE.CONTENDER would like to think so.

Being able to understand the way the world works opens doors to future prosperity instead of willful ignorance. We owe it to ourselves and our children to embrace the knowledge and wisdom from previous generations to keep us Free and Happy.

Peace, Freedom, Knowledge and Happiness to all,

THE.CONTENDER

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