The Way We Learn

Activating your mind and body is HUGE. If we sit passively as we learn, even if were enjoying what were learning, we don’t retain it. We may retain it intellectually, we may have our notes from it, but we don’t actually follow through. If you just hear something and it goes in and out of your head, it’s interesting. But what I like to do is condition people, so you build muscle (mentally) and you actually follow through; being motivating.  Research shows that if you sit and listen to somebody passively, within 4 weeks you’ll remember within 10% of what they said. And it’s not because you don’t have a good memory, but it’s because the information. your just going through so much of your life with so much stimulation it doesn’t get retained. If you take that information and you just write it down, and nothing else, even if you never read the notes again, you’ll retain about 30-40% of what you learned. Because the physical act of writing it down makes you draw the roots deeper into what you’ve learned. And if you can physically activate your body while your learning, if you can yell back the answers, if you can engage your nervous system, then you retain about 85-95% of what you’ve learned. I don’t just believe in positive thinking. I believe in intelligence. I believe in seeing things as they are and not lying to yourself. I believe in seeing things as they are, but not making things worse than they are which is what most people do so they don’t have to try. And I believe in seeing it better than it is – and how to close that gap, but in order for you to do that you have to activate yourself. If you engage your body, the engagement of your body will bring your energy up. If your energy is higher you’ll retain it, and if you keep on doing this (even if in the beginning it feels kind-of weird) after a while, it’ll start to feed you energy. And when you have the energy, you’re going to follow through. I’m sure there are many people who are in the situation of feeling like there is some part of their life they really want to improve or change to become more successful, if that’s true then the biggest thing they can do is change thinking about it, into actually doing it. Therefore, training their body to be more active; is key. Now I’ll give you a good metaphor for this. If you really want to learn rapidly, if you really want to change your life, the way that you do this is you become more like a kid. Because kids instinctively do the things that make them learn very rapidly. And one of the things about kids is that they have a certain amount of energy before adults teach them to be a certain way, right? So, kids when their learning, they’ll be learning like crazy and there willing to learn because they’re not worried about failing. If a kid falls down, they get back up again. But a lot of teenagers, and adults (as I’ve noticed) look around and say: “Did anybody see that? Nope, well I’m never doing that shit again.” So, as teenagers and for some adults, what we have to do is engage ourselves more. Don’t think of age as a term for energy. Energy is something that is more psychology than it is age. Some people are very old but are young at heart and have tremendous energy. And you can tell how old somebody is by the way they move. So basically, focus, put your mind to it, and you'll be able to achieve the unimaginable. 

Dedication

I have a great time with my life and it’s something that I want to share. I love living. I think it’s infectious. It’s something that you can’t fake. In my case, it would be swimming. Starting out high school at the varsity level as a freshman takes quite a bit of dedication. Some people might think that it takes greatness to be that dedicated to something. However, I believe that, greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, illusive, “god-like” feature that only the special among us will ever taste. It’s something that truly exists in all of us. It’s very simple. This is what I believe and I’m willing to die for it. Period. It’s that simple. So, obviously, from there you do what you need to do. And I think what happens is we make the situation more complex than it has to be. I’m not growing up with the sense that where I am is where I’m going to be. You know? I’m growing up with a sense that where I am, almost doesn’t matter because I can become something greater. There’s no shortcut to success. The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, who want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft. I’ve never really viewed myself as particularly talented. However, where I excel is ridiculous, sickening work ethic. You know, while the other guy’s sleeping, I’m working. While the other guy’s eating, I’m working. There’s no easy way around it. No matter how talented you are, your talent is going to fail you if your not skilled, if you don’t study, work really hard and dedicate yourself to being better every single day. You’ll never be able to communicate with people or with your artistry the way that you want. Building a wall is a great analogy in this case. You don’t set out to build a wall and say I’m going to build the biggest, badest, (if badest is even a word) greatest wall that’s ever been built. You don’t start there. You start by saying; I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. Then you do that every single day and soon enough, you will have your wall. 

Don't Back Down

What I do is stand up for what I believe in. If someone stands up, so will a friend. If a friend stands up, so will a school. If a school stands up for what they believe in so will a town, a city, a state. And if a state stands up a country will stand up. And if that country stands up, the world will stand up together, united. And the world will be a better place. Stand tall, stand proud. Stand together.

Life is a vehicle, it gets you to where you need to go. Use it, don't let life use you.

Life gives you a world opportunity, especially going to New Trier. Never take it for granted and seize the hope that you have. When you set aside what other people think about you and what you look like, lifes easier and less stressful. Who cares what some random idiot thinks about you because you like to be yourself, or for what you believe in? Live it how you want to and theres nothing to fear. Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. And the kids that say those mean stuff are just too insecure about themselves to say anything else. They say that so that other people wont make fun of them. They're scared. It's something I strongly believe in. Although, the kids who make fun, tease, and bully, don't realize it, it's so true. 

A little something from a good friend.

I dont read, I listen. I listen to people speak and preach. In fact I have famous quotes on my bulletin board in my room to inspire me. I keep a positive attitude by imagining the most perfect life and convincing myself that it can be done. Because it can. And that fuels me to become the best I can possibly be. I usually have good things to say and people say i'm inspiring but some people never realize that and just take me for granted. Thats what i dont like. I wish people would give me credit. A chance. But, sometimes you just have to take a deep breath. Because stress is a bitch. You need to manage it. I know schools tough and all but if you manage your life it'll work wonders for you. 

Time

I created a motto to live my life by. Interpret it how you want. "life is not measured by the breaths we take, but the moments that take our breath away." Cherish every moment. Time goes by, it whizzes before us and flashes in front of our faces. Only when we stop to look at it do we realize how much time has passed. 20 years from now, you will regret the things you didn't do more than the things you did. So go out and live your life to its fullest. Because before you know it, time ticks away.

Extra study makes you extra employable

Alot of people complain about homework. They ask what the importance of it is, and why we have to do it. Some people might think that just cause we learn during school, kids don't need to do homework. However, the idea of homework is not to punish you or to take up all your free time. It is to make you more knowledgeable in many areas and therefore more employable when you leave school. It also improves your thinking so you can deal with more problems in life, which is an essential part of your life.