The Problem With The School System | Dean Graziosi and Jason Stapleton
Dean Graziosi argues that traditional school moves too slowly for a fast-changing world. He says learners should get specialized knowledge directly from people who've already succeeded, often through paid courses, because university curricula are outdated by graduation. Money solves problems and creates freedom, but also exposes the personal work you still need to do.
Chapters
You can go figure it out on your own. You can go back to traditional education at a snail space. And when you're done, you're still gonna have to learn from somebody else. Or what the world has opened up for us is just find somebody who's already done it and is willing to share that with you for money. Yeah.
You and I both believe the education system is broken. How is it broken in your mind? And what is the solution for a 21st century education system with all the technology that we have today?
Yeah. So it comes to me a lot of different. Like again, one of those lots of different answers, but not to sound cliche, but think about how fast the world has changed, right? We both got phones sitting next to us. Think of what's on our phone compared to when 20 years ago, not 150 years ago, 20 years ago, our world has grown exponentially. The knowledge we take in, just think of everything you need is on Google. And I mean, it's incredible what's at our fingertips, right? What they say is not a million years ago, when we have more power in a cell phone than President Clinton had running the world, basically. Isn't that amazing? This is more than all the mainframes.
It's insane. People don't realize it, because if you're just coming into it, you don't realize.
How difficult it is. I tell that to my kids all the time, right? So just think about that. That's how fast the world has grown exponentially. But now that's only in the last 20 years. But let's just say if you went back to the classroom, high school, or College of 75 years ago, if you brought somebody from 75 years ago to today, they couldn't believe all of this. But if you brought them to a classroom, what's really changed?
Yeah, we look largely the same.
The blackboard's a white board. The same books are being taught, the same theory, the same algebra, the same. The world has grown exponentially and our education system has grown linear. We. Right? So one of the top trending terms right now for college kids is why go to college? Because by the time the ink dries on your diploma, what you learned is already outdated, Right? And that's just a fact. And they're talking MIT like MIT graduates are saying, I'm done and what you taught me, I need to go back to school or learn from somebody. And I think we do traditional education because it's what our parents and our grandparents and great grandparents did. But the world is shifting because at the end of the day. There is so much knowledge we can get from here that we don't have to learn the truth. I'm watching my kids go through traditional education, and it's driving me crazy. Thank God the parents teach them different aspects, but the fastest way to the end result is to learn specialized knowledge. Specialized knowledge just means somebody's done it. Like when you were over in Iraq, if somebody's done what you want to do more than you, longer than you, deeper than you, better than you, you. You can go figure it out on your own. You can go back to traditional education at a snail space. And when you're done, you're still gonna have to learn from somebody else. Or what the world has opened up for us is just find somebody who's already done it and is willing to share that with you for money.
Yeah. Yeah, exactly right. The story that I always tell is that when I wanted to start my first online business, I ended up buying a. I got a recommendation from a friend of mine who said, you should go check out this guy Ryan Deiss. And Ryan and I, we know each other now. He was part of war room for a number of years, But I went and bought his napkin funnel blueprint thing that he was selling in, like, 2008 or something. And I remember talking to the guy, he said, I don't know if it was a thousand bucks, two thousand bucks, something like that. And I talked to the guy. I'm like, are you serious? Like, this is. You buy this garbage? And he's like, dude, trust me. It'll be good. You'll learn a little something. I attribute that one course to making me a millionaire. Like, I got my first million dollars in my business was generated based off of that information. It's like, I talk about, what is that knowledge worth to you? It's actionable. You can use it right now. And somewhere locked away in you. Like, you and I both believe that in every single one of us, there is a knowledge or a skill that other people want and they're hungry for.
I mean, listen, you know something somebody else doesn't. Yes. And they want it more than ever. Yeah. You've been programmed a certain way. There are people that just think that's ridiculous. I need to go through the process. I need to follow the channels. I need to go to grade 13. And listen, not all college is bad. What would we do without doctors and people who need to gain that valuable knowledge? But if you look at right now, more than ever before in history, there's only about 17% of people who get a college degree and actually use it and like it 17%. What do most people do they get out of college? Napoleon Hill said it in 1937. True learning begins the day traditional education ends in 1937. Right. The world is just finally realizing it, but people are realizing it in record numbers. Right. The knowledge industry is heading towards a billion dollars a day.
Yeah, it's like 330 million. I did the numbers reverted to $30 million a day.
And Forbes said it's headed towards a billion a day by 2025. Because what are people doing? They're home saying, I need to do more. I know there's more to give the world. Especially after the whole Corona thing, people got to sit home and reflect and go, I don't want to go back to the life I used to have. You're probably watching, raise your hand virtually if you had time to actually think about your life and go, no, I deserve more. I want my business to grow or I want to finally start that business. Right. And what better industry than to serve with knowledge that you have, help other people go faster and get paid to do it. Right. And that's. I mean, that's been Tony Robbins life for 40 plus years, mine for 20 plus. And that's why we got together and done this, because, I mean, we got 60 years in this industry, We've done it pretty well. And we decided to create a process to get people to go, oh, wow, I do know something. Oh, wow. People do need it. These are the people who need it. Here's how I sell it to them and here's how I serve them. Yeah.
And so is that where you want your business to go is really kind of being that.
It lights me up more than anything. It fired me up again. I'm back to feeling like I'm 25 and on fire.
It's so funny because that's the way I felt when I started teaching this stuff, because I just, I feel as though it is. It's so critical that we in. I'm a big believer that in order for you to be free, it has less to do with what a government is doing or what, you know, any of that, and has a lot more to do with how much money you have. The more money you have, the more opportunity you get, the more mobility you have. And you said something that I really, really like. You said money is a lot like alcohol or wealth is like alcohol. It just exaggerates who you are as a person. Right. So money doesn't make you evil. It doesn't make you a bad. We tell ourselves all kinds of lies about money. When in reality we're really shackling ourselves to what I call wage slavery and time prostitution. When in reality what we should be doing is embracing this idea that we need more increase in our life, that greater wealth gives us greater opportunity. What do you think are the biggest things, the biggest, I guess, lies that people tell themselves about money?
Yeah. You know when people say money's evil, I'm like, you haven't given enough away. Yeah, okay, right, like you haven't then. And let's get back to that. But I think the biggest lie about money, like picture this. Picture two couches. You're on one couch, money's on another couch and there's a therapist in the middle. And you're looking up going, you're evil, money. You're the root of all evil. Well, simultaneously you're like, I don't have the freedom, I don't have the time. I can't help my family, I can't make a difference in the world. And I want to right now. So all the things that you stress about, and this is based on, not my theory, most of the things you worry about most divorces, most of the time you're on an anti anxiety medication comes from money. So it's stressing you out because you don't have it. While simultaneously you're saying, I don't want you, but I need you. Like a therapist would be like. It's like a relationship where you're like, go away while you're holding the shirt. Right. It's the craziest relationship in the world. Listen, money solves problems. Money allows you to help other people. Money gives you freedom. And money can allow you. There's two things I want to say. When I got money out of the way, I ran from a dysfunctional childhood. I figured money would solve all my problems. It solved a lot of problems. It solved my parents problems. I retired both my parents. I still send both my parents a check every single week. It's been 30 years. Not 30, 25 years I've been sending them checks. I buy them both new cars every three years. I just bought my mom a brand new house in Virginia. Like I bought my dad a new house last year. I support both my parents to solve that problem. Right. So money gets to solve problems. But when I got past the money, I have to tell you, the only person left standing in the mirror was me. I didn't have to. I couldn't use that as an excuse anymore. Like I'm just running away from a dysfunctional childhood. Shut up. I can't fix being a better man. I can't fix the childhood demons. Like my dad was physically abused. Like his teeth knocked out, abused. Youngest of 12, physically abused. And he never physically abused us. But man, he was tough with me and my sister. My sister still doesn't talk to him. I had a bleeding ulcer at 12 because my dad caused so much stress in our lives. Right. Love him. Amazing guy. Now he just was dealing with his own demons. Right. My parents married nine times, moving 20 times. By the time I was 19, I tucked all that down and focused on making the money. Solved the problem. And all of a sudden I got and I looked like I don't have to freak out about money anymore. Who am I? And I got to work on me. I'm in an amazing relationship and I'm a better dad and I think I'm a great team leader and I care about the world because I had the time to work on me. My parents never had the time. They just worked on money and avoiding problems. So one byproduct of money, no one will ever money creation, no one will tell you is when you stop worrying about money. You have to fix. You have to look in the mirror at you. I don't know about you, but I did a lot of self work to be a better human being, to be a better dad. And I couldn't do it when I was just hustling to make the money. It was all about the money.
I always find the most successful people are also the most introspective. I find they know themselves well and they're willing to accept. They recognize the flaws and the good pieces too. And so I agree with that. And I was listening to an interview you gave to Ed Mollet.
Yeah, Ed's a good friend. He's an awesome dude.
Yeah, I don't listen to much of his stuff, but it was one of. He said something to you that I found interesting. And I want to kind of touch on it because I want some feedback from you on it. So I was. He said when I. When I grew up, I grew up in a double. Personally, I grew up in a double wide trailer. We were very poor. And a lot of what drove me, really for a lot of years was a constant state of fear that the other shoe was going to drop and I was going to end up back in the trailer. Right.
Okay, sign me up. That's me.
But one of the things that he said to you was he said, I Feel like early on in your life you were really running away from that old life. And then at some point you kind of found you found something to move towards instead of something to move away from. And you guys may not be anywhere close to this. You might still be in the running away phase and you haven't quite found that thing. But I feel like now I'm moving towards something. Like I see something that I want to build and I want to create. And I have a goal of building a hundred million dollar company and impact millions of people in a positive way.
And it doesn't matter if you're moving away from pain, eventually you want to move towards pleasure. What I say is just amplify whatever it is with no excuses. People say it's not good to motivate yourself through pain. Listen, finding motivation to overcome obstacles is hard regardless. True or not true, right?
Yeah, absolutely.
So if you have to say, if I leave my life the way it is, looking back at the pain, if I leave my life the way it is, that's only gonna amplify in five years. If I don't do anything, this pain I feel in five years. Imagine think of your most painful time in your life.
Yeah.
If you didn't make the change, if you didn't get the Ryan Dice course, if you didn't do that, if you were back there right now and you were still living that, your life went this way. But how would it feel right now if you were still living the life before Ryan Dice?
Oh, it'd be horrible.
Like, how does it feel in your life? Like, if you had to make a noise, it would be like, Tony Robbins does this. Like, if you made a noise, it'd be like, ugh, like disgusting, right?
Yeah.
If that's the way you feel, then amplify it. Don't look away from the pain, actually stare at it. Because that's your destiny if you don't make a move today. So I don't say, people say, no, that's too painful. Bullshit. Pain moves. If you touch a hot stove, you move fast. Right. If you go, no, I'm grateful, I'm blessed, I should be appreciative of what do I have. That's a true story. But like, don't give me that. While simultaneously, you know there's another level of life waiting. If you pain amplify, if you want more, amplify it.
Yeah, it's like action is required. And if pain, if pain is the motivator that gets you to take action, that's okay.
Don't live in it forever. And Ed was completely right. There was a shift in my. Like, I was moving away from pain. And even when the money got out of the way, I still know I was. I was a habit. I was still focusing on the pain of going backwards.
Yeah.
Like, I don't know about you, I still have a fear of going broke. It's in. It's in. It's baked in.
Absolutely.
Like it is baked in. Someone says, you haven't done enough work. I do the work every single day. I write books on personal growth, my friends. I'm blessed to have great friends inside. I'm still that kid that's afraid one day I'm gonna wake up and it's all gonna be gone. Cause I know that pain of a. You lived in a double wide. Mine was a single one, so you got me on that one, brother.
I was fancy.
You were fancy. You had two of them stacked together, right?
Yep.
So. But it's okay, because that's who I am, and I accept it. But simultaneously, now I look at, you know, the impact Tony and I, and, you know, I'm not. I got another 50, 60 years on this earth, I believe. But I also. I'm. Now I'm looking towards legacy, like, creating courses that help other people be empowered in this industry. It's like, that's how we compound and leave When I'm gone, it's like, look at the footprint he left.
Yeah, absolutely.
