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Picture yourself as a third grader. It’s May and you have two weeks of school left. The weather is warm and all you can think about is a fun-filled summer full of sprinklers, fireworks, and ice cream.

Yet, you sit there at an uncomfortable desk, listening to the teacher droning on. You’d rather be anywhere but here.

We never quite escape this impulse of wanting to be done with our education. We move on to middle school, high school, and maybe college and grad school. With every level, we just want to be done so we can move on with life.

This doesn’t change even when you get to the doctoral level. Ask any Ph.D. student in the middle of their dissertation and they’ll likely say, “I just want to be done with this thing.”

That is the kind of attitude most people expect from formal education, where we follow a prescribed path to success. There are lots of benefits to formal education, but nothing compares to the curriculum you create for yourself.

If you want to grow as a writer, you have to change your mindset about learning. Learning is a privilege, not an obligation. Learning can happen anywhere, not just in a prescribed institution.

Learning is the match that lights the fire of passion and purpose, not the bucket of water that drowns it out.

As Ernest Hemingway said, “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.”

You must make time to learn every day. Whether it’s a book, podcast, course, video, mastermind, or some other learning opportunity, you must make it a priority. Even just a few minutes of learning a day can change the whole course of your life in one short year.

You might have a master’s degree, but you never truly become a master. You are always an apprentice. What are you learning today?

Today’s Challenge: Before you go to bed tonight, share what you have learned today with someone.