We were all brainwashed and trained at an early age by parents, teachers, and society to believe that getting a job is what we are supposed to do. Maybe this was a good thing to do in the 50s, 60s and even 70s. I’m not sure.
But things began to change rapidly in the 1980s with technological advances and the first big wave of corporate cutbacks. Corporations no longer provide employment for life and technology has allowed anyone to start a business from anywhere.
What is true today is that having a job is not a good way to build wealth or achieve financial security. Unfortunately, our schools still train people to be good workers. They are not equipped to teach people to be great entrepreneurs.
Bill Gates told the 2005 National Governors Association meeting that “high schools are obsolete … Our high schools were designed 50 years ago to meet the needs of another age. Until we designed them to meet the needs of the century. XXI, they continue to limit, even ruin, the lives of millions of Americans each year. “
Schools teach children to be still, to be quiet, to memorize information, and to take tests. Schools teach children that they are worth more when they get an “A” than a “C”. These are not skills and beliefs that make people good entrepreneurs.
Schools give children the message that they do not know what is best for them. They should look to teachers and administrators to decide how they will spend their time. It doesn’t matter if they’re enthralled by a book or a science experiment, when the bell rings, they’d better stop what they’re doing and hurry up so they aren’t late for the next class. It doesn’t matter if they are hungry or thirsty, they must wait until lunchtime to nourish their bodies. And it doesn’t matter if they are tired, they can wait until they get home to rest.
These are the lessons I learned in my 23 years in school, college, and graduate school:
Lesson # 1: My worth as a human being is determined by my performance. This has become an adult belief that I am not okay unless I get A + in life – big jobs, promotions, big money, a big house, etc. (After all, our culture tells us and shows us what material possessions you need to show the world that you are getting A +.)
Lesson # 2: I must seek outside authorities to show me how to live my life. This has grown into an adult belief that my inner intuition, feelings, and bodily sensations cannot be trusted. I lived my first thirty years in my head, practically isolated from my inner world.
Lesson # 3: Life is NOT supposed to be fun. I have lived my life with the belief that life was full of struggles and difficulties, that work is not fun, and that I have limited options.
Schools condition us to seek answers and guidance outside of ourselves. Schools show us that we are not responsible for our own well-being. School conditions us to ignore our internal guidance systems.
Some of our most innovative contributors to society weren’t model students, remember Albert Einstein?
You may be thinking, “Come on Debra, a lot of kids don’t like school. It’s not the end of the world!” And I say, “Well, why can’t we create a school system where children like to learn? Why can’t we trust children to know what is best for them?” This won’t happen until adults start to throw off the lessons they learned in school. Adults must stop transmitting misery to their children.
Intuitively I knew what was best for me at a young age, but I was not even allowed to express this knowledge. I spent most of my 20s following society’s false promise of happiness and most of my 30s trying to unlearn the destructive lessons that were forced on me in school.
The good news is that it is possible to control your life by undoing destructive social brainwashing. But first, you need to clarify what false beliefs you still have and replace them with fearless positive beliefs. It is a journey worth undertaking.