Daily Ramblings – Wisdom Wednesday – Acquiring Knowledge

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acquiring knowledge, blind spots, Books, Courses, Freud, Gaps, honesty, training, Tutorials, wisdom

We gain wisdom through the “pain and suffering” associated with mistakes. We screw up. We learn. We avoid screwing up that way again.

Another way to gain wisdom is to learn about other people’s lives. You can learn this from books. You can learn this from talking with other people. We can learn from the mistakes of others, so we can avoid them too.

So what are some ways we can acquire knowledge? Take online courses. Read books, magazines, blogs, articles in the areas you are trying to learn. Find tutorials online to learn from. You can even search YouTube to find a video that may show you what “not” to do.

You build knowledge that you do not have. You find solutions to fill in the gaps of your weaknesses. Books, courses, tutorials, and other people are all great resources for this.

Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise. – Sigmund Freud

The way to gain wisdom is to start by self-assessment. It starts with being honest about what you know, and what you don’t know. Once you find out where your knowledge gaps are, you can get to work. Then you can use every resource available to you. Each person is different, however.

You may have weaknesses I do not have, and I may have weaknesses you do not have. This is why it is so important to talk with other people. If you’re trying to improve at work, ask your boss to give you some feedback. If you’re struggling at home with a relationship, ask your partner what you could do to make things better. Go to the people who can help you identify your blind spots.

I hope each of you has a terrific Wednesday!

Until next time…

Dave

Daily Ramblings – Bonus Content – MS Publisher Course on Udemy

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Gaining Knowledge, Getting Unstuck, Life-long Learning, moving forward, online courses, Practical Learning, Tutorials

MS Publisher Course @ Udemy.com

I always joke with my Mom and Dad about having all the world’s books on my phone. I also joke about all the world’s music on my phone and how nice it is to be able to access books, music, and movies anywhere I am. Another benefit of the technological advances we enjoy is the ability to take online courses.

I present a discussion each month at our local library about various philosophical and religious topics. The topic I have selected for December is on Dreams. My local leadership has decided to begin postering for these events so that the public is more aware of what we are doing and will have the option to attend. Guess who got assigned to create the poster? (laugh).

I didn’t know what other people in my organization were using to create posters in their areas, so I reached out. They came back with PowerPoint, Adobe Illustrator, and MS Publisher. Since MS Publisher is part of my MS Office 365 subscription, this is what I went with. As soon as I opened it up, I realized that I had no idea what I was doing. So, I began looking for a tutorial or course I could take. My search helped me find an MS Publisher course on Udemy!

Since I’m very familiar with the Udemy platform, I paid the $12 for the course. Note: If you get on Udemy and find a course you want that is more than $10-12, wait. They have sales all year long and it will get into this range at some point. If you really need to take a course in a particular topic area, keep looking. You will find a course that meets your price range and will deliver the content you are looking for.

The course is composed of 1-3 minute presentations on each part of the platform and advances all the way to creating a project and finishing it. I like bite-size presentations that I can take each day and then practice on the real application afterwards. The course link is above. You may not have any need for MS Publisher, but you may need to learn something else. Google it. You’ll find what you are looking for on one of the online education platforms or on YouTube.

I wanted to show that regardless of the problem you are facing, you can find a solution. Whenever we embark on doing something that is unfamiliar, you can find a place to learn easily on the Internet. Don’t let a lack of knowledge hold you back from your dream. The knowledge you seek is only a few mice clicks away.

If you are taking an online course that you really enjoy, send a link to me in the comments.

I’m always looking for the next great course to take!

Until next time…

Dave