I talk to cab drivers.

I read menus at restaurants to grow my vocabulary.

I ask people I respect what books they are reading.

Why?

Because everything is a classroom if you look at it the right way. Every moment, every experience, every person is an invitation to learn something new.

A cab driver this week told me he’s one year away from finishing his law degree. He said his some of the friends he immigrated with are satisfied with $200 a week jobs because they only live their lives one week at a time. He said he’s desperate to teach them how to plan two years out at a time so that they can see why putting in two years of hard work can pay dividends for years to come.

At a restaurant the other night I noticed they had “Sea Bream” listed as an option. Is that a plant? A fish? A type of crab? Made up words hipsters use to confuse people from the suburbs? I looked it up. Turns out it’s a fish. Next time I write something that requires an obscure animal reference I’m going to use “Sea Bream.” (I’ve been overusing Komodo dragon lately.)

Smart people read smart books. I want to be smart. So when I have the opportunity to talk with smart people, I ask what they’re reading. And then I actually read it.

People sometimes act like when they graduate they’re done with learning, but that’s not true. Every opportunity is a classroom.

Your diploma is the start of your education not the end.

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Every moment has some big of learning hidden in it, if you’ll just change your perspective.

Case in point, the Do Over book launch team (UPDATE: the book launch team has been closed, get the book here!)

Think you’ll ever need to launch an idea?

Maybe you won’t write a book or sell an album or a piece of art or a photograph, but is there the chance that at some point in your life, you’ll launch an idea?

Is it possible that you’ll need to know how to creatively share something with an audience? Will you need to learn how to break through the clutter of the Internet? Will you need to discover how to create, clear compelling messages that help spread the impact of the things you care about?

If the answer is yes, you should join the CSI Do Over book launch team. (UPDATE: the book launch team has been closed, get the book here!)

Will it be fun? Definitely. Look at the baller logo Bryan Allain created for it. (CSI stands for Connections, Skills and Ideas, the things the team will be working on as we launch Do Over.)

csi_doover

But more than just fun, it’s going to be a learning experience. It’s a chance for you and I to learn how to share an idea with the world from an amazing teacher – Penguin Publishers. They’re one of the greatest publishers of all time and they’ve been giving me a master’s degree is launching ideas.

If you want to write a book someday you should definitely join the launch team. Work your butt off. Take notes. Go to school! And when you launch your book later do everything I did, but only better!

But if you’re not going to launch a book, this might still be a learning opportunity you’ll love. You’d be surprised what you can learn when you see the world for what it is, a massive classroom.

[Tweet “You’d be surprised what you can learn when you see the world for what it is, a massive classroom.”]

Click here to join the Do Over CSI team.

(UPDATE: the book launch team has been closed, get the book here!)