Focus on "productive" study to stay ahead

I.M. Soni

Broadly speaking study is of two types: short and long range; the former enables you to prepare for examination, the latter to improve the quality of the mind.

Development of the mind helps you go up in your career, leading to appreciation, efficiency and the respect of colleagues, employers and other people. It makes life pleasant and interesting. Your company is sought and your personality acquires a halo which gives your self-esteem a boost.

A lazy mind loves to remain in a rut whereas an active mind is a beehive of ideas. Study leads it to you, as you are thus programmed to new horizons and heights.

A young man may sneer at literature or journalism in his innocence (read ignorance); but the same person may wake up to the beauty of these subjects and find them gratifying and interesting. Study opens closed windows.

Today, college and university, more so school, is dull, even sterile. It is full of dreary subjects, taught by uninspiring teachers who are concerned with only “finishing” the course. Education is absent. Only instruction is imparted. Long range self-study can enrich your mind. Real education starts when you leave school!

An intellectually alert person tries to know everything of something and something of everything. The mind needs varied nourishment like the body. Have at least one major pursuit and another two as second strings to your intellectual bow.

Specialisation is an excellent pursuit. It results in high standard of work performance, but it may make one ignorant of other areas. Variety of interest make you more mentally alert and, of course, a confident person.

Thinking is under-rated. Most think that they can think all the time. But the truth is that they cannot. George Bernard Shaw has said, “I have made an international reputation by thinking once or twice a week.” Try to keep the mental attitude of the cock who goes on searching the Earth for more food. This kind of learning is fun; it is not a mere slaving as is done to pass an examination. It is a mental sport which is stimulating and invigorating.

The human brain is a wonderful machine. And it is right under your hat! Exercising it is more thrilling than being at the controls of a machine.

William Blake has said, “Energy is eternal delight.” Play a variation and it becomes, “Learning is eternal delight.”

Success demands a transition from self-distrust to self-reliance.