The Learning Station: Beyond Formal Education

The Beginning of Our Journey: The Discovery Stage

At the beginning of our lives, we begin as a completely blank book, ready to start writing the first pages of our long and complex personal history.

This first and pivotal stage of our existence is defined as the learning season, a period of discovery and immense absorption of new knowledge.

During this time, we learn to make sense of the world, what we are good at, develop our talents, and understand how human interactions work.

It is the initial phase with which we all begin, laying the foundation for the skills and understanding we will use for the rest of our life path.

The Crucial Distinction: Formal Education vs. School of Life

Society has outlined certain stages of formal education that we must complete if we want to achieve the financial standards expected of us in the future.

However, true learning does not only refer to school or university, but also to the valuable life experiences that teach us lessons.

Often, it is the school of experience, sometimes called the school of the streets, that helps us find ourselves and discover what we want to do.

Personal experiences, mistakes and successes make up a type of knowledge that is as or more important than any degree or diploma we may ever obtain.

This experiential learning shapes us in a profound way, molding our character and our worldview in a way that traditional education cannot always achieve.

The Trap of Formal Education and Personal Growth

Many people make the mistake of staying stagnant, focusing only on formal education and forgetting that There are other things they can learn to grow.

They forget that they can do other activities in order to grow as people, to mature mentally and to expand their vision beyond the purely academic.

Some individuals even consider personal development as something esoteric and unnecessary, disregarding the value of understanding their own emotions and their thinking patterns.

These people usually prioritize only practical knowledge that generates money, such as building an engine, without valuing the importance of emotional intelligence and maturity.

The Learning Stage as an Antidote to Early Stress

If you are a young person who has just left school, you may feel stressed about not yet being at the stage of generating large financial gains.

However, instead of putting pressure on yourself, you should recognize that perhaps your learning stage is not over yet, despite having completed your formal education.

You are still in it, and the best way to reduce your stress is to identify what other things you need to learn or what other talents you can perform.

The instructor, for example, discovered his passion for teaching not in his economics classes, but through the experience of helping other students learn.

This experience showed him that he had more skills than just his degree, a revelation that allowed him to find a path much more aligned with his true calling.