Category Archives: Learning

The number one means to enjoying life.

15 Minutes a Day for More Knowledge

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In 15 minutes a day you can learn more than most people learn in 4 years of college.

For the past year I’ve started each workday making a cup of coffee and spending 15 minutes reading something dense. In that time I’ve finished over 1500 pages worth of incredible material. Here’s a few of those books:

This may sound like dry and boring material and at times it is. But the fact is, anyone can sit down and read something truly deep and important for 15 minutes a day. It’s sort of like the Colorado river carving out the Grand Canyon. From day-to-day you may not see a perceptible difference in the landscape but over time something truly magnificent happens.

Why You Should Read a Microeconomics Textbook

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A Good Economics Textbook

A Good Economics Textbook

One of the deficiencies of my college education was not taking an economics course. I recently fixed that by spending 15 minutes each morning reading Principles of Microeconomics by Gregory Mankiw. Everyone should read this book (or something similar). Microeconomics is mostly common sense but, unfortunately, it seems that too many people – especially our politicians – don’t know these lessons.

Short aside: It’s amazing how much you can learn by just reading 15 minutes a day. In this case, it took me about six weeks to read a 500 page textbook that will be useful for the rest of my life.

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My Most Important Piece of Advice

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Never Stop Learning

I’ve toyed with blogging several times but never hit on a theme that really resonated with me – until now. I have a big reason to blog – two reasons in fact: Theo and Jonah. My two little boys that inspire me every day to be and do better.

This blog is dedicated to them. Or more specifically, my attempting to teach them some of the the things I think I’ve learned so far.

In this first post I want to share what I think is the most important thing someone can do to be successful and happy in life: stay curious and keep learning.

Fortunately, this is not something limited to school. You can be curious and learn for your entire life. That’s what makes it so great. Here are just a few of the things you can do:

  1. Go to school and pay attention.
  2. Read books – especially non-fiction.
  3. Listen to podcasts.
  4. Watch documentaries.
  5. Talk to other people about what they know.
  6. Ask people to challenge your beliefs, and don’t get mad when they do.
  7. Take the time to observe the world.
  8. Just think about things. You can sit quietly or, my favorite, go for a run.
  9. Ask, “Why,” a lot.

That last item may be the most important. It shows the root of learning: curiosity. Don’t just be curious about your corner of the world. Be curious about everything. It’s fun to learn something new. Beside, you never know when it might be relevant to your life.

A simple example: prime numbers. 50 years ago calculating large prime numbers may have seemed nothing but a bit of fun for weird mathematicians. Not really an important part of life. Then came e-commerce in the mid-90s. Suddenly people wanted to send their personal and credit card information over the web, but they didn’t want the wrong people seeing it. Guess what? It turns out that large prime numbers are the foundation of online encryption. What was once just mathematical gymnastics turns out to be the lifeblood of a new technology.

The world is full of similar examples of seemingly trivial information becoming very important and valuable as technology and life change – and they will continue to change.

So, Theo & Jonah, please, stay curious. Please take the time to follow where that curiosity leads. Learn. It will not only lead you to success but, I believe, show you the path to a happy and fulfilling life.

Love, Dad.