When I was younger,  I used to hang my hat on the fact that I could learn anything and if I really pushed myself in the books, then I would be better than the next guy who did not.  This worked for a while and would probably still play in to the perception of me as an individual.  However, through a lot of introspection, I have also learned that experience is an amazing asset.

For me, education is paramount.  There is no substitute for learning every day and I hope that my thirst for knowledge will never wane.  I love to learn.  Learning also means that you have to keep an open mind.  You have to be concious that your knowledge of a subject is limited and you do not know everything.  Socrates used to go around proving this.  You need to start every day with the idea that you can learn from every experience and make it a concious decision to do it.

Next, experience is complementary to education.  Education is worthless if you do not use what you have learned in some way.  You make know the atomic weight of oxygen, but what good is it if you never use it for something.  See, I know that it is 16g and I am USING it here as an example of knowledge.  See how that works?  😉   Some of you will think that I found it on Wikipedia before posting here, but I actually learned it as a junior in high school chemistry and have a weirdly accurate memory for numbers.

All that being said, take heart that what you do not know, you can learn.  And education coupled with experience will give you the best base to start with and with which you can make the best decisions at work and in life.  Be open to new edutation and experience, it will get you farther than you ever though imaginable and probably down a different, more interesting path than you would have ever anticipated.

Stay interested and interesting!

John