Sometime around high school I heard a gifted and talented thought leader say these words.
90% of everything you ever learn is a waste of your time. The problem is, you never k ow which 10% will be useful to you in 5, 10, 20, 50 years time. So you need to listen and learn all of it. (Paraphrase from masterclass leader)
Like so many other things you learn i dismiased this at the time. Then a out 15 years ago I noticed a radical shift in the students I was working with at schools and even in my own comedy classes. Later I noticed the shift in adults I teach.
I triple down on LISTENING WITH YOUR EYES because listening and focus seem to be dying arts. Many teachers and even some of my own clients discount this phrase.
But in many ways I am saying ALL OF IT is valuable information. I am trying to impress upon a kid/teen, LISTEN WITH YOUR EYES at all waking times. Absorb information.
Because my observation of kids and teens in schools, far too often, is that NONE OF IT matters. Around 2010 I was working closely in a Queens high school and lost my š©.
The kids, mostly high school juniors, joked about failing all their classes, “including yearbook”. These were highly intelligent young people that just decided to F it in the easy A class.
They hated my response from the person they thought safe joking with, and I regret how I handled it because I kind of lost my ability to shape their future. But I loved those kids like a parent. I wasn’t disappointed. I wasn’t mad at them. I was scared they just put the nail in their future coffin.
To be fair, I became a terrible student around 16+. I discovered high school parties and sentioritis. My ego drove me out of so many opportunities. Going to community college as a Trumper player was a default not a choice as I never visited and schools.
The ONLY reason I have success today is that I was a masterful nerd in class the first 15 years of life. I love NERD summer camp. (Gifted & Talented). I was a gifted musician and student until I thought I knew it all at 14.
By 16ish I realized I had peaked, with ego growing faster than my intellect. So I kind of shut down.
THANKFULLY, as an actor and singer I rediscovered a love for learning around 19. This is the beauty of community college. It gives a lost soul a second chance. I grabbed it. Becoming the star in a couple shows reared the ugly head of ego again. I enjoyed being the big fish a couple years.
The Point?
I survived those 3 years the party animal wannabe was in the driver seat because I was a great student before an after. I can identify the difference between myself and the truly gifted minds that stayed focused those years. I do pratt falls; they design robots.
BACK TO THE 90-10 RULE
You need to listen to EVERYTHING. You need to skip the judgement. I truly believe at any given moment, AT MOST i use 5-10% of the knowledge absorbed over 50 years. But every few years, the knowledge I call upon shifts.
At age 10, you have ZERO CLUE where you will be at age 15, 20, 30, 50, etc. Your wants and needs are going to change. People you meet will shift the trajectory. Things you learn will open new doors.
Every time you flake out in class at 10, potentially is one less choice you will have at 20, 30, 50, etc.
So maybe 90% of the info is a waste of your time. But you have ZERO CLUE which 10% might save your life someday.
So remove ego and insecurity. Take off the blinders and absorb your world 360Ā°. Put down the devices. Experience life. Learn social skills through trial and error.
There will be pain. There will be rewards. One your eyes. Open your mind. Discover YOUR potential by LISTENING WITH YOUR EYES!
PS
At the same time learn to use the devices as the powerful tools they are, not for the brain drains most use them. (I am typing this blog on my “smart” phone while still in bed).
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