THE SUCCESS PATHWAY (WHAT YOU CAN'T BE TAUGHT IN SCHOOL)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
“Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation standstill they are engines of change, windows on the world, lighthouse erected in a sea of time”
-Barbara Tuchman.
In the days of your youth as a student get together the materials to build your future. Gather all the knowledge and information you will need in future, everything that will be necessary for you to build your adult life. Knowledge increases with time and if you are not in constant touch with the present knowledge, when it moves to the next level you will not be able to cope. Knowledge is the raw material with which men build their lives. If you want to have a better future, get a better knowledge, qualitative knowledge (Jonacs, 2007).
The refusal and I-don’t-care altitude of people to reading have made poverty and ignorance to pervade our landscape. Those who read, at all, read unimportant and wrong books, which add no value to their lives.
One of the most important factors contributing to success in academic pursuit is the use of “good study techniques”. This textbook is organized to unravel the hidden secret of formidable skills to reading and understanding. It is therefore obviously relevant to councilors, teachers, students, leaders and those thirsty and hungry for knowledge.
“I will alter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the earth. Remember, every mystery is revealed by God to make you a master. This book is given unto you to know the mysteries of reading. No doubt, it is also useful to have high intelligent quotient. Certainly, we have heard a lot from psychologists over the past fifty years about intelligence tests, but educationists have always known that a high lQ alone is not enough. Some students with very high IQ achieve very little because they lack what is call CEPS.
I.e. Common sense, enthusiasm, persistence and self-confidence. These are the qualities which will enable you to succeed not only in your studies, but in life and all it ramification.
The intellect deals with letters, words, language and numbers. The only requirement for this sound intellectual learning is the willingness and desire to read, and study books. A man who does not read is not in any way better than the man who cannot read. Students who cannot read get behind and cannot advance in school neither can they progress. The person who does not continue to read in order to develop the intellect is like one who buys a new car and locks it up in the garage for ten years. It will be very difficult for that car to function optimally after it has been abandoned for such a long time. Students should, therefore, concern themselves with the study and discovery of the substance which the letter represents. The best way to succeed as a teacher or student is to study to discover the thoughts of the author written on the pages of books.
This lesson was not written as an argument or as the subject of debate. It is your privilege to accept it in whole or in part or reject it. But at this point, I wish to state, however, that this is not an age of cynicism or doubt, this is an age that has conquered the air above us and the sea beneath us enabling to harness the air and turn it into a mess that will carry the sound of our voice halfway around the earth in the fractional part of a second. Certainty, this is not an age that lends encouragement to the “doubting Thomases” or the “I don’t-believe-it Joneses”. In LIFE you are to Read;
*Books/Articles that will raise your ideals
- Books/Articles that will refine your imagination
- Books/Articles that will clarify your ambitions
- Books/Articles that will influence you to do a little better
I, therefore urge you that this book of knowledge should never depart from your mind, but you must read, absorb, meditate and assimilate in practice all that had been written therein, day and night, for then you will get understanding, plus factor, mental riches and good success.
1.2 DEFINITION OF TERMS
For one to have the in-depth understanding of the things in this book of law, one has to first understand the meaning of some terms in order to have a thorough grasp of the subject matter.
Concentration: Is the act of focusing the mind upon a given subject or lesson or lecture until ways and means for its realization have been worked out and successfully put into operation. Two important things creep into the act of concentrating the mind on a given desire. Concentration will unlock the door to academic success; unlock the door to positive character and, many at-times, unlock the door to physical wealth. Through the magic powers of concentration, all of our great geniuses of the past have been developed. It is a magic key that helps to achieve/attain what great men of history have achieved and even more.
For the student, concentration is the ability to think on your school work because many students do not think about their subjects after school hours. It is the ability to control your thoughts and direct them to something that will add value to your life and the ability to organize knowledge gained from textbooks into a plan of action that is sound and workable. Concentrate your mind on that which you intend to do and become in future and very soon, you will become a lode- stone that attracts, through the aid of forces which no man can explain, ‘The necessary material counterparts of that desire”, a principle which constitute the most important part of this article.
Learning: Learning involves any process one applies with a view to acquiring knowledge. “In every head there is a formidable powerhouse, a compact, efficient organ whose capacity seems to expand further towards infinity the more we learn -Tony Buzan. The mind is able to acquire and store information, making it available for use when it is required.
“A mind that puts a full stop to learning would soon witness a full stop in its mental growth”. If the will to learn is absent, success is most unlikely.
Learning takes place in the mind. The mind is able to acquire and store information, making it available for use when it is required. Abraham Lincoln said, “When you stop learning, you are old whether at 20 or 80. Your age is not what determines old age. If your mind is not put to proper use, your body soon begins to age. When you stop learning, you start dying! This is because people start ageing from the mind, not the body. Learning guarantees liberty
Reading: To read means to look at and understand a written or printed word. Reading is the ability to understand or comprehend written or printed words and being able to recall or remember them when they are needed. Reading is a process that requires the use of complex thought process to interpret printed symbols as meaningful units and comprehend them as a thought unit in order to understand a printed message. Through reading, humans have the tools to transmit knowledge to each succeeding generations; it allows one to listen to the wisdom of people of the ages. Reading is a foundation for much enjoyment in life and is closely related to vocational efficiency. The ability to read well is absolutely critical to success in life. The acquisition of reading skills has a beneficial effect on all school subjects. Poor reading skill can make a child develop a poor attitude towards school and can create self-esteem problems later in life.
Studying: Is setting one’s mind to acquiring knowledge and understanding especially by reading and research. It is to look at or examine closely, or think about a thing carefully. Studying involves reading between lines; word for word. Studying is as vital as Oxygen to life. This is also emphasized by many different religious traditions. When Apostle Paul said “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that will not be ashamed,” he simply means study if you don’t want to be ashamed. Islam holds acquisition of knowledge (literacy, studying, etc.) in high esteem. The holy Qur’an reveals that the first communication (injunction) between Allah and Prophet Muhammed was knowledge-based, - lqraa, meaning “read” or “recite” (Qur’an 96:1-3). No matter your field of endeavor in life, if you are not studious, you are heading for shame without knowing. A time will come when the things you know will no longer be relevant to the people around you.
Comprehension: Comprehension is coined from the Latin word “comprehendo” meaning “to understand”, to seize or to perceive. “It means to understand fully every aspect of the issue in question. According to Frank Smith, “comprehension is the acquisition of information about a subject matter or extraction of meaning from a text. Therefore, comprehension involves deep understanding of whatever is concerned. It requires concentration, reading, interpretation and writing.
Knowledge: Knowledge, according to Advanced Oxford Learners Dictionary, is the understanding and skills that you gain through learning, education or experience. It is the state of knowing about a particular fact or situation. It is also the sum or range of what has been received, discovered or learned.
Meditation: Meditation is the mental processing knowledge through thinking deeply in silence. It is a serious thought on a particular subject that somebody writes down or speaks. Meditation makes your mind calm and aids understanding. I think meditation is the missing asset in the life of students today. So many are giving to rigorous reading and studies, but few people take time to ponder the facts and the issues involved, in other to lay hold of the hidden facts they contain. So it’s not enough to be reader, you must also be a thinker. You must be given to genuine art of meditation, so you can enjoy mental distinction.
Meditation, no doubt, is a great asset in making the most of this great gift of sound mind that God has given you, if you have read you don’t seem to have assimilate much, settle down and ponder over what you have read. Start grinding it mentally, believing that there must be a solution and you will definitely find it. (More on the next article)
Reasoning: Is engaging in logical, analytical and rational thinking. It is the science which directs the operation of the mind in the attainment of truth. All reasoning is thinking, but not all thinking is reasoning (Eno, 2003).
Imagination: The ability to create pictures in your mind (mental picture) or images at heart. It is the formation of a mental image of something that is neither perceived as real nor present to the sense. (MORE ON THE SUBSEQUENT ARTICLE)