Be Your Own College: Reimagining Education and Income

Alright Heroes, let's get this out of the way right out the gate...

I am not anti-college. In fact, I have 2 degrees. Went back and got my Accounting degree online a few years after graduating from the University of Florida (Go Gators).

This is what I am COMPLETELY, UNASHAMEDLY, BALLS-TO-THE-WALL against:

1. ROI negative degrees
2. Degrees that are rooted in academia and removed from real world application
3. Forcing people to declare a major as a freshman and being pigeon-holed into pre-reqs that you will have to do over when you decide you want to change your major
4.  Skyrocketing costs of higher education to line the pockets of indoctrination machines that don't allow free speech and the pursuit of higher thought which CANNOT happen without civil debate

College is different than when I went and it was already getting expensive when I started.

I was fortunate to have a few, small scholarships and worked through college to pay off my loans so I only graduated with $10k in debt.

I say this so you understand where I'm coming from and what I've learned since. So lets talk about BYOC.

The Rich All Have This In Common

Do you know the number #1 indicator of financial wealth? 

No, it's not whether or not you bought Bitcoin last year or that you followed Dave Ramsey's plan and have a big savings account and terrible credit score.

It's your income. Full stop.

Last year, Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon, made $8,560,000 an HOUR. 

The hourly wage to earn $1,000,000 in a year assuming a standard 40-hour workweek is $480.77. If that's the case, then increasing your income should be your NUMERO UNO priority at any job.

So how do you do that? By fixing bigger problems. 

So how do you do that? By expanding your knowledge and skillset.

So how do you do that? By becoming your own college.

BYOC 101

Mark Twain once said "Never let schooling get in the way of your education."

The hard reality that universities are facing is that many of their courses aren't relevant in the real world anymore and there's too much internal BS to adjust quickly.

I recently met with 3 different Marketing majors from different universities regarding an open position at a company I used to work for. The lack of social media marketing education they recieved was astounding. One girl didn't learn any during her four years of college.

I could recommend 5 online courses and 2 books that would give her more functional marketing skills and it would have cost her $500 instead of $50,000.

And that's it. That's the answer. With the rise of eLearning, there are THOUSANDS of skillsets that you can learn either totally free or for under $500 per course! 

Here's a few examples of skills you can learn for FREE and you can start RIGHT NOW. I've included an average range of their starting salaries.

1. Social Media Marketing: $47,000- $58,000
2. Copywriting: $29,000 - $41,000
3. Video Editing $40,000 - $52,000
4. Google Jobs - $50,000 - $65,000

So about the last one. Google offers free courses for Digital Marketing, UX Design, IT Support, Data Analytics and Project Management.

These skills are in high demand, take about 3-6 months to learn with 10 hours a week of study (a very light load so you can dedicate more time and lower the timeline).

And these are just a few examples. There's hundreds more. YouTube alone can teach an incredible amount about almost any skill.

Skill Stack For More Income

If you are a mechanic who does oil changes and swaps out tires, you'll be at the bottom of the payroll.

But if you then learn how to fix engines? You'll be worth a lot more. 

Then if you learn how a car's electrical systems work on top of all that, your demand and pay will skyrocket.

Why is that? You can fix more problems and more EXPENSIVE problems.

This applies to any skillset in any industry.

Doctor's compensation is not created equal. If you are a general practitioner who primarily handles colds and bloodwork, you will not be paid as much as a heart surgeon. 

A cold is not as big of a problem as needing a triple bypass to prevent a serious heart attack.

If you are a photographer, that's great. But then if you learn marketing and project management, you can create a team of pros and increase your income beyond anything you could do alone. 

Skill stacking is a universal truth in any industry. But sometimes, going wide with your skills can be just as beneficial as going deep.

If you are climbing the corporate ladder and have entered management positions after being a salesperson, you don't need to learn how to do sales better. You need to learn about emotional intelligence, management styles, recruiting, and data analysis.

Forming Your Curriculum

Define where you want to be professionally.

• How much do you want to make a year?
• Start your own business or be a part of a huge corporation?
• What skills do I have now?
• What will it take to be in the top 5% of this skillset?
• Are there skills I can add that will benefit my position and getting promoted/building my business? 

Ask questions like this and then spend a few hours looking for YouTube channels that have people that can deepen your knowledge.

Find 10 online courses to improve yourself and take 3 of them. 

Get books that have been written by people who have done what you are trying to do. I don't care about official credentials in most capacities as much as I do tried and true experience.

Both are nice, but I prefer people who have already done what I'm trying to do.

The Time To Start Is Now

It doesn't matter if you're 17 and graduating high school or 50 and trying to find what's next in your career. The time to start is always now and the barrier to entry has never been lower.

If you already have a degree, then you need to realize that YOU are responsible for your education from now on. There's no one that's going to do it for you.

Start increasing your income. If you are years into a job and haven't been promoted, talk to your boss about why that is and build out a plan to get promoted.

If there's not a road to higher income in 18 months or less, start interviewing at other jobs to check your market value.

Be your own hero and be your own college!

Until our paths cross again...

More Resources

If you want to engage with me and more content like this, I post regular content on these platforms:

• LinkedIN
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Podcast (any platform)