Lessons you should have learned in school

Many of us go to school and receive an education…or so we think. We come away with a lot of degrees and, in some cases, a large debt to show for it and not much else. That’s how Srinivas Rao felt after he graduated. “I had two pieces of paper hanging on the wall in my parent’s home and a bill that shows up every month,” he said, when I caught up with him at the Blog World Expo in Los Angeles.

In fact, Rao considers himself  “a failed byproduct of education.” Why? Because he’s overeducated. Instead of using all that information he learned in school, Rao now writes a blog called The Skool of Life. There he writes about all the things you should have learned in school but didn’t—and what he’s learning now.

Rao began blogging in 2009, about the same time he started surfing, another activity that became huge part of his life. “A lot of my ideas for the blog come while I’m in the water,” he explains.

What can you learn from Rao? Not necessarily to leave your degrees behind. He did, however, offer me five lessons he has learned outside of higher education that I could share:

1. Don’t get caught in an ego-driven pursuit of a life that looks good on paper. Too many people when they make choices in their lives and careers do it based on approval of other people and what they think will look good on a resume or what other people will be impressed by. As a result, they end up choosing things that aren’t necessarily fulfilling and they are left scratching their heads as to why. They made those choices based on ego instead of instinct or gut feeling.
2. Remember your true north. People will settle. They’ll take what they think is the best they can get rather than what they want. You have to remember there’s a real difference between settling and settling down. When you settle for anybody or anything it’s never going to be what you truly want. It’s not going to be the best situation for you or for anyone concerned.
3. The payoff is worth anything you have to go through. A lot of people tend give up. Ultimately if you get what want, all those things you had to go through to get there won’t seem like a big deal. If you never get there, if you never pursue what you want in the first place, spending your life wondering “What if?” would so much worse.
4. All it takes is one good wave. Surfing is known for being a really addictive sport. Talk to any surfer, and they can site the day it all started. It all starts with their first wave because it’s a moment of such bliss and glory. I think of success in that same way. The first success you have is going to be the most difficult one you ever have, but once you get it it’s the addiction to that feeling that keeps you going. It’s that sense of fulfillment. In surfing we called it “being stoked.” You get your first wave, and you want to feel it all over again.
5. Find a passion that lights your eyes up. I can’t tell you what finding a passion like surfing has done for my life. When you find that passion, it permeates every other aspect of your life. Literally you are happier person, a much more fulfilled person, and it shows in every other area of your life. They say happier people do good work. I think if you don’t have a passion that lights your eyes up, you aren’t living life to the fullest. The people who tell me they can’t wait for the weekend, I think, “That means only 2/7 of your life is worth living?” That’s a little scary. You have to have something your passionate about. It doesn’t necessarily have to be work.

Go through Rao’s five points and ask yourself how many of them are working in your life now. Do you need to make a change so you can fulfill your potential, become happier and more passionate, achieve your goals and become more successful, follow your intuition, and do what’s right for you?