以下是我的清单。在我眼里，这是一个人期待成功需要学到的东西。这些东西你可以现在就开始去做，无论你几年级，也无论你多大年纪。很明显，我可以就这些题目写更多内容。但请将这些内容作为起点，跟随我的建议，自己去学习吧。做为教育者，我想，我可以试着把这些教给我的孩子们。
1．如何预测结果
最常见的一种尴尬是“我从来没有想过……”。是的，大多数人都非常不善于预测结果，学校也似乎从来没有考虑过如何帮助他们提高这种能力。
对结果的预测，部分依靠科学、部分依靠数学，还有一部分则依靠一种预见能力。综合来说，这是一种创建思维模型的能力。我们依靠这种能力去想象其后会发生的事件：“如果……，将会发生什么呢？”
这种情况的危险性在于把注意力集中到了“你想发生什么”，而不是“会发生什么”上。例如，当你准备要跳过一条沟渠，你可能会想象自己落到了另外一 边。这很好，想像会帮助你进行成功的跳跃。但你同样需要预见到如果你没有落到另一边时的情境。那时又将会发生什么呢？你是否设想过从40米高处跌落的结果 吗？
这就是数学和科学起作用的地方。你需要比较眼前的情况和你过去的经验，计算出不同结果的可能性大小。例如，你正准备跳一条5米长的沟，你应该问问自 己：“我有多少次成功越过5米沟的经验？我失败了多少次？”如果你不知道，你可以在平地上进行一次试跳，你应该就可以对你的情况有足够的了解了。
人们不会提前去思考。但当你在学校时，你应该时时抓住机会问自己“接下来会发生什么？”观察你身边的情况和环境与你的互动，预测结果会是什么。将你的预测写下来或者写到blog里去。通过练习，你将会成为预测结果的专家。
时间长了，情况会变得越来越有趣，你将开始观察到模式、常见现象，以及一些有助于对结果进行预测的事情。比如，东西掉下，玻璃被打碎。当受到侵犯 时，人们会发怒。热的东西温度会下降。狗有时会咬人。公共汽车或者火车，有时会晚点。这类常见的现象，通常被称为“常识”，将帮助你避免错误的，有时甚至 会有损害的结果预测。
2．如何阅读
你可能觉得很奇怪，在这里我没有指传统意义上的“识字能力”，我指的是，如何去阅读文字，然后更深入地去“理解”它代表着什么（这同样适用在声音和影像领域，但在文字领域上先打下基础，即便不是完全能够，也可以相对容易地传递到其他领域去）。
写作的四种主要形式是：描述、议论、说明和定义。你要通过学习观察“标志”以及关键词，来学习如何识别这些不同的写作类型。
然后，你需要学习句子是怎样组合以形成这些写作类型。例如，一篇议论文包括两个主要部分，前提和结论。结论是作者试图证明的观点，它一定会有一个标志性的连接词（象“因此”、“所以”、“从而”这些词）来体现。
大量的文章充斥着无用的文字，只是为了让作者看上去显得很有学问，转移你的注意力，或者只是为了填充更多的空间。能够绕开不重要的细节，直达作者真正想表达的意思，不分心，这是一种重要的能力。
尽管你的学校从来没有教你这些，去找一本关于讲授非正式逻辑学的基础书（这些书或许会叫“批判性思维”或其他类似的名字）。在书中找到议论文的格式 和连接词（通常这类书都不会涵盖其他三种写作类型），在文章中和老师上课时所说的话中，练习找到这些连接词。你可以每一天聚焦一个连接词，观察它是怎样在 现实中被运用的。
3．如何区分虚构与事实
在其他地方，我就这个主题已经写了很多，毫无疑问，这是被学校极大地忽略了的领域。有时我怀疑这是因为老师感到他们的学生必须毫无选择性地吸收知识，如果学生们对每件事提出疑问，老师会说，他们从不学习！
学习的第一件事就是对你被告知、你所读到、和你在电视上所看到的东西提出疑问。不要全盘接受你被告诉的东西。要不断发问：你怎么能证明知道它是真的？什么证据使你认为那错的？
我写过几篇文字，对你理解这点有帮助，包括我的“逻辑谬误导论”和关于“如何评估网站”。这些原理普遍适用。比如，当你的老板对你说什么时，你可以用文章中原理做同样的测试。你可能会惊奇地发现，你老板对你说的竟然有那么多是不真实的！
每天给自己找一段信息（一个报纸的专栏、一篇blog帖子、一份讲课稿）详细分析。分析没个句子、每个词，问问自己你被期待去相信什么，你被期待感受什么。然后问问自己是否有充足的理由让你去这样相信和感受，是否你是被别人操纵了。
4．如何移情
绝大多数人生活在他们自己的世界里，这在大多数时候是没有错的。但是，我们至少要认识到这个世界上还有其他人存在着，他们也活在他们自己的世界中。这可以防止你错误地以为，其他每一个人都和你一样。更加重要的是，这会使他人成为一个令你惊奇的知识和洞见来源。
这个过程的一部分包括从他人的视角去看待事物。例如一个与你生活在不同地方的人。他们可能不会看到你所看到的，也可能看到你看不到的东西。认知上的这种转变可能会改变他们相信的东西，能够意识到这一点是非常重要的。
但更为深刻的是，你需要去想像别人的感受。这意味着，你必须在自己的大脑中创造一个其他人的想法和受觉的模型，然后把自己放到那个模型中去。要作到这一点，最佳的方式是想像你就是那个人，将自己放到他的具体情境中去。
或许，学会换位思考的最好方式是研习戏剧。（关于戏剧，我并不是指研究莎士比亚，而是指如何在戏剧中表演。）遗憾的是，学校没有将这部分作为核心课 程之一。所以，退而求其次，你得学习像宗教、心理学这样的科目。然而很多学校实际上也没有这些课程，所以，你每天至少花一点时间去玩玩各种角色扮演游戏 （RPGs），让你自己去扮演有着不同的信仰和动机的他人。
移情时，你将理解并且找到能帮助你逾越与他人间隔阂的方式。例如，这时变得礼貌和周到就对你更加重要。因为你能体会到当你粗鲁对待别人时，他们所受 到的伤害。同样，变得诚实更加重要，因为你开始看到你的谎言是多么显而易见，被别人当作一个轻易就能蒙骗的傻瓜是多么让人愤怒。
移情并不是某种交易。它也不是人际交往中类似于“黄金规则”等技巧（注：圣经中的……“己所不欲，勿施于人”）的应用。它是真情实感，当你与他人同 步感受时，通过你同步的精神状态，你了解了他们。你彬彬有礼是因为当别人粗鲁地对待你时你不好受；你诚实待人是因为当你撒谎时你觉得受了冒犯。
你需要去学习如何拥有这种感觉。你一旦拥有了这种感觉，你就会发现，没有她以前，你的生命是多么得苍白。
5.如何有创意
每个人都有创造力，如果你仔细看看你自己的生活，你会发现你已在很多地方有创意了。人类有一种自然的创造能力――那正好是我们大脑工作的方式――通过练习，这种能力可以变得非常强大。
增强创造力的窍门是理解创造力是如何工作的。有时人们认为创意的点子是无中生有地产生的，但创造性实际上是熟练而巧妙地以某种形式来运用你的知识的结果。
真正的创意几乎总是存在于对某个事物的反应之中。比如我的这篇文章就是为了回应一篇我认为还没有说透的同一主题的文章。创意也会在对特定问题的回应 中产生：怎样救治一只猫，如何通过一个沟渠，如何悬挂衣服。所以，为了更有创意，要做的第一件事就是学习如何找到有待解决的问题，有待于做出反馈的事物， 有待于得到满足的需求。这需要实践，每当你看到一个问题或者需求时，试着把它写下来，或者写到blog中去。
另外，创意的产生还倚赖于知识领域间的相互交错，以及某些时候对知识的综合应用。当你看到现实生活中的一个沟渠时，想想你在线游戏中是如何穿越的呢？或者，当你需要清洁电池的酸液时，想想你是怎样去掉多余的胃酸的呢？
换句话说，创造力常常用隐喻表现出来，也就是说，你需要学习如何在当前情境和其他你所知道的事情之间发现共通点。这就是人们常说的“在事情之外思考”，你需要跳脱开具体的问题之外。这里涉及到的具体技能是“模式识别”。这个技能很难学，需要很多练习，所以创造力才那么难。
但“模式识别”是可以学习的，它就是当你说一首歌象另外一首歌，当你在给花和钓鱼船拍照时，你所作的事情。艺术就是从各种事物中发现模式的活动，这就是为什么今年你应该每天拿出一些时间给艺术――不管是音乐、摄影、摄像、素描、油画还是诗歌。
６．如何清晰地沟通
清晰地沟通首先是了解你自己想说的，然后选取某些简单的工具来说出它们。可能最难的部分是了解你想说的到底是什么。但是，花时间来确定你知道你想说什么比写一堆材料来表达它更加重要。
知道要说什么通常是结构问题。职业写作者采用一小组常用的标准结构。例如，一些作者喜欢文章（甚至是整本书！）包含着一系列的要点，就象这篇文章一 样。另外一种结构，时常被称为“金字塔风格”，被记者时常采用，整个故事在第一段中就被讲出来了，其后的每一个段落提供着越来越次要的细节。
在整体结构中，作者在议论、解释、描述和定义，有时是它们的混合。它们每一个都有不同的结构。比如说议论，它将有一个结论，就是一个作者希望你相信的要点。结论得到一组前提的支持。连接前提和结论的是一组“关系词”。例如，“因而”这个词，就代表着结论。
学习如何清楚地写作，涉及到对工具的学习和实际应用。或许最好的学习结构文章的方法是学习如何在笔记辅助的情况下进行演讲。这将迫使你选择一个清楚 的结构（一个你能记得住的结构！），确保它们被直白清楚地应用。以后我会就此这个主题写更多的东西，现在，你可以参考Keith Spicer的书《布置》。
还有，掌握专业人员使用的写作工具。学习议论、解释、描述和定义的结构。学习使用关系词来帮助读者熟悉那些文章结构。掌握基本的语法，避免你的句子混乱不清。关于这些的信息都可以在网上找到。
然后，每天坚持练习写作吧。一种很好的方式是加入一个学生或者志愿者办的报纸，和一个团队一起、为某个受众、在一定的时间限制下写作。这将强迫你写得更快，这很有用，因为写得清晰要比写得冗长模糊更快速。如果没有现成的报纸，创办一份，或者开辟一个新闻blog。
7．学会学习
你的大脑由相互连接着的数十亿神经细胞组成。学习，本质上就是形成一组组的神经细胞连接。无论你是在学数学，还是在凝视天空时，神经细胞连接都在形成，因此，你的大脑总是在学习。学习的区别在于你怎样学习。
当你学习时，你试图在大脑中创建连接的模式。你在试图将脑神经元连接起来，并加强那些连接。这可以通过重复成组的行为和经历来实现。学习是一个不断练习和重复的过程。
所以，学习任何事情――从“2＋2＝4”到量子力学理论，你需要一次又一次重复，以期发展脑神经的连接。有时人们通过重复大声朗读来学习――这种机械的学习在不久前还很普遍。在听别人谈话时做笔记也不错，因为你听了一次，然后当你将它们记下来时你重复了一次。
想想学习如何投掷棒球。有人可以解释这个动作的任何细节，你也能够理解所有这些，但在熟练掌握之前，你依然需要将棒球投掷上数千次。你需要象增强你的肌肉一样，加强你脑神经的连接。
有些人认为学习就是记住一些事实。有时是这样。但学习更象是识别而非记忆。因为你正在试图建立神经细胞的网络，最好学习一个连接的整体而不是没有连 接的部分，因为你在一个领域学习的连接的整体具有你在另外一个领域已经知道的相同的模式。在一个领域的学习，在认识模式上变得很重要。
有时我们使用的模式非常人工化，就像在’every good boy deserves fudge中一样。在另外一些情况下，更加有用的是，模式与自然法则、逻辑和数学原理、历史潮流、事务如何象整体一样工作等诸如此类的东西相关。画画常常 帮助人们发现模式，这也就是为什么脑图和概念图如此流行的原因。
事实上，你应该将数学、历史、科学和机械的学习看作是对原型的学习，也就是需要你一次又一次认知的基本模式的学习。这意味着，当你学这些学科时，你应该问“模式是什么”，而不仅仅是“事实是什么”。问这个问题，实际上会使这些学科更容易学习。
学会学习和学习别的事情是一样，需要练习。你需要每天学东西，学习字典里随机找的一个词，或者随机找来的一个维基百科条目。学这些时，别简单的孤立 学习它们，寻找模式：它是否能符合你已知道的某个模式？它是否是你过去曾见过的类型？通过有些方式把这些词或者概念嵌入到你已有的知识中去，比如，写一个 包含它的blog帖子，或者画一幅画解释它。
在任何时刻都要去思考你如何学习和学习什么。记住，你总是在学习，这意味着你需要询问：当你看电视、购物、驾车、打棒球时，你在学什么？何种类型的模式正在被创造？何种类型的模式正在被加强？你如何能掌控这个过程？
8．如何保持健康
从实际出发，保持健康包含两个要素：1）最大限度减少暴露在疾病和毒素下；2）保养我们的肌体。
最大限度减少暴露在疾病和毒素下，主要是一个清洁和秩序的问题。简单的事情如把甲醇存放到车库，而不是厨房的橱柜，可以最大限度减少意外中毒的危险。保持炊具表面洁净，将食物彻底蒸煮减少细菌感染。经常洗手可以阻止人类传染病菌和疾病的传播。
正是由于类似的原因，一些教育中的热点问题，就围绕着如何警示人们避免暴露在疾病和毒素下。如果你与另一个人有过身体接触，你将可能帮助疾病传播，所以，要穿戴防护。象饮用饮料、食用富含脂肪的食物、吸烟、吸毒是典型的将毒素带入身体的行为，尽量少接触，
保持个人身体健康可能更加重要，因为对健康的主要威胁，通常与身体机能下降有关。应该学习如何保证适当的营养和适当的体育锻炼，并多多实践。就算你 不打算成为一个健康的偏执者（谁会这样呢？），了解哪些食物和哪些行为对身体有益，无疑是有用的。培养食用健康食品和练习有益行为的良好习惯。
每天采用某种形式积极运动，骑车去上班或上学，步行一英里，作一项运动，或者锻炼。另外，每天保证食用至少一餐包含对你的健康“有益”的食物（例如 包含蛋白质、矿物质等营养），如肉类、蔬菜，或者大豆、水果等。如果你的学校没有提供适当的运动和营养，向他们要求！如果你生病或处于饥饿状态，你无法学 习任何东西！否则，努力去建立一种替代性计划，在中午时去寻找一份工作。
最后记住：你永远不用去证明保护你自己的生命和健康的重要性。如果你不想作，因为你认为那是不安全的，那么你有绝对的权力拒绝做它。结果，任何的结果，都要好过在这上面妥协。
9．如何使你更有价值
或许说整个社会都在共谋让你对自己感觉不好有点愤世嫉俗了，但它未必完全不正确。广告商使你感到不好所以你会买他们的产品，政治家使你感到自己无助所以你会依靠他们的政策和计划，甚至你的朋友和熟人会试图使你怀疑自己，以便谋得和你竞争中的优势。
你可以拥有世界上所有的知识和技能，但如果你无法确信自己有能力使用它们，它们就是毫无意义的。这就象你拥有一辆Lamborghini跑车，但没有驾驶执照一样。它停在车道上熠熠生辉，但除非你能够将它开动起来，否则你不会得到任何价值。
使你自己有价值，部分是个人发展问题，部分是选择问题。为了使你自己有价值，你需要感受到你值这个价值。事实上，你的确值这个价值，但是帮助你确认这点的方式是实现某些目标、学习某些技能，或者赢得某种声望。为了使你自己有价值，你还必须告诉自己“我很有价值！”。
这点很重要。我们如何看待自己就象其他事情一样是需要学习的。如果某人一遍又一遍告诉你你很没用，如果你不作任何反应，那么你会逐渐相信自己确实无 用，因为它将导致“你是无用的”脑神经连接的形成。但如果你重复，相信，并按照这样的方式一遍又一遍对自己说“我是有价值的！”，那就将会是你深信不疑的 东西。
使你自己有价值到底指什么呢？它代表很多。例如，它是一种信念：你确实足够好，以至于有一个态度、一种声音、一个说法证明你的贡献是有效的。它也可 以是一种观点：你是能干的，你能够学习新的事物，并有创造力。它是你的独立能力，你的个人福利不依赖于某个特殊的个人或者组织，你能够自立，按照自己的方 式去独立决定如何过你的生活。
所有这些都是你的权利。但是你并不是先天就被赋予了它们。你必须争取，通过你的坚信不疑（不管别人怎么说），通过你的自我努力。
你的学校没有任何一个课程教这个，甚至可能积极地试图破坏你的自我努力和自尊。你要对此保持警惕）所以你必须为你的自我价值负起责来。
每天这样去作：告诉你自己，你很聪明，你很酷，你很强壮，你很好，你可以成为任何你想成为的人。早晨，大声地讲出来――如果有必要，可以在淋浴时的 水声中讲出来，一定要讲！然后，去实践这些品质。作填字游戏变得更聪明，穿出你自己的时尚风格以使自己变酷，去作某件你告诉自己你会去作的事，让自己变得 更强壮。行善事让自己变得更好。
10．如何生活得有意义
这可能是所有事情中最难学的，也是最少被教授的。
事实上，有意义地生活是几件事情的组合。某种意义上来说，它指你对某些目的或者目标的奉献，但它也指你对现时现地的感恩和奉献。最后，它是认识到你在世界上的位置。你的意义是必须由你自己来创造的。
太多人们活到底也不知自己为何而活。他们追求赚钱再赚钱，或者把自己弄出名，或掌握权势，无论自己是否实现这些目标，他们发现生活都空虚而无意义。这是因为他们混淆了途径和结果――金钱、名望和权力是人们为了做值得做的事情才去追求的东西。
什么值得去作呢？这由你自己来决定。我选择贡献自己的生命去帮助人们获得教育。其他人则选择了追求治愈疾病、探索太空、敬拜上帝、建立家庭、设计汽车，或者是去获得启迪。
如果你还无法确定什么值得作，某些人将替你作出决定。在你生命中的某个时刻，你将发现，你一点都没有做那些值得做的事情。所以，今天，请你花费一些时间，思考一下到底什么才是值得去做的事情。你可以明天就改变你的想法。但至少你已开始要将你自己引导到某些地方。
第二件事是有时被人们称为“活在现下”的想法。这本质上是一种掌控自己想法的观点。你的想法并不能给予你力量，唯一起作用的是此时此刻。如果你想到什么，比如希望、失败、畏惧等，这些想法都不会伤害你，由你自己来决定你到底有多相信这些想法。
这个问题的另一面是：你此刻作的事情，就是你最想作的事情。现在你或许会想：“不可能啊！我宁可现在在Malibu海滩！”但是，如果你真的想去 Malibu海滩，你应该已在那里了。你之所以没有去的原因是因为你选择了生活中另外一些更优先的东西：你的家庭、你的工作，你的国家。
一旦你认识到你有能力选择你所作的，你将认识到，你有能力选择后果。那意味着，结果，甚至是坏的结果，在很大程度上来说也是一种选择。
这个理解极具革命性。想一想吧，对读者而言，真正有意义的是，我此时最想作的事情是写下这篇文章让你――是的，让你来阅读。更令人惊奇的是，作为一 个作者，我知道有一件事你最想作，甚至比去Malibu海滩更加想作，那就是阅读你自己的文字。这促使我想去写下一些有意义的东西，它将赋予我的生命意 义。
译文:
Ten Tips to Learn at School
Here below is my list. To my point of view, these are all what one is required to learn if he is to expected to succeed. You can start to do these right now, no matter which grade are you in, or however old you are. Apparently, I'm going to write more on these, but please take them as abeginning. Follow my suggestions and learn by yourself. As an educator, I suppose, I can try to teach these to my kids.
1. How to Predict the Result
One of the most frequnent embarrassment is that"I haven't ever thought of...". Yes, most people are not very good at predicting the result, neither has the school ever considered how to help them improve this ability.
The prediction of result partly relies on science, partly on mathematics, and partly on an ability of predicting. In aggregate, it is an ability of building mental model. we use such kind of ability to imagine things that will happen next: "What if...?"
The danger of this situation consists in that you have focused your attention on "what you would like to happen", but not "what will happen". For instance, when you are about to jump over a ditch, you may imagine youself landing on the other side, which doed good. Imagination can help you make a successful jump. Nevertheless, you also need to predict the situation that if you did not make it, what would happen then? Have you ever thought of the result of falling down from the height of 40 meters?
This is where mathematics and science work. You need to compare the situation in front of you and your past experience, and work out the possibilities of different results. For example, you are going to jump over a ditch of 5 meters long, and you should ask yourself: "How many times have I successfully jumped over a ditch of 5 meters long? How many times have I failed?" If you don't know the answer, then you can have a try on the flat ground and you will be able to have adequate understanding of the yourself.
People seldom think in advance. But when you are at school, you should take every oppotunity to ask yourself "What will happen next?" , look into the interaction between you and the surrounding situation and environment and predict what the result will be. Write dowm you prediction or blog it. Through practising, you will become an expert of predicting results.
As time goes by, it will be more and more interesting. You may start to realise the model, common phenomenon, and something that can help you predict the result. For instance, something drops and breaks the glass. When being violated, people will get angry. Hot things will cool down. Dogs sometimes bite. Buses or trains sometimes arrive late. These common phenomena are usually called "common sense", which can prevent you from making wrong, or sometimes harmful result predictions.
2. How to Read
You may find it awkward. Here I'm not talking about "words cognitive ability" in the traditional sense. What I mean is how to read words and then to "comprehend" thoroughly what they stand for ( It also applys in sound and image fields, but first laying a foundation in the words field, even not able to, can also pass on to other fields in a relatively easy way).
Four main forms of writing are: description, argumentation, exposition and definition. You can learn how to distinguish these different writing styles by learning to observe the "signs" and key words.
Next, you need to learn how sentenses are organised so as to these writing styles. For instance, an argumentation is made up of two parts, presupposition and conclusion. Conclusion is the viewpoint that the author is trying to prove, which must be manifested by a iconic conjunction ( like "therefore", "so", "thereby", etc).
There are large numbers of articles full of useless words, only to distract your attention by making the faulse image of a knowledgable author, or only for the purpose of filliing up more space. It is an important ability for an author to steer clear of subordinate details and undistracted direct into what he really want to express.
Though your school has never taught you these, go and find primers on informal logic ( these books may be called "critical thinking" or some other names of this sort). Find out the writing form and conjunctions of argumentation ( generally, these books will not contain the other three writing styles), and practise finding out these conjunctions in articles and the teacher's words in class. You can focus on one conjunction a day, and observe how it's used in reality.
3. How to Distinguish Fiction and Fact
I have written a lot on this topic in other places, undoubtedly, this field is immensely ignored by school. Sometimes I wondered if this is because teachers feel that their students must absorb the knowledge non-selectively. If the students ask about every thing, the teacher may say that they've never learned.
The first thing of learning is asking about everything you are told, everything you read and that you watch on the TV. Don't accept fully what you are told. Ask constantly: how can you prove it true? what's the evidence that make you think that is wrong?
I have written several articles that may be helpful for your understanding, including my "Introduction of Logical Fallacy" and " How to Evaluate the Web". These theories are generally appled for. For example, when your boss tell you something, you can do the same test by using the theories in the articles. You may be amazed to find that so many of your boss's words are untrue.
Find yourself a piece of information ( a special column in the newspaper, a blog post, a lecture paper) to analyse carefully each sentense, each word and ask yourself what you're expected to believe, and how you're expected to feel. Then ask yourself whether you have enough reason to believe and feel this way and whether you are controlled by others.
4. How to Empathize
The overwhelming majority of people are living in the world of themselves, which has nothing wrong most of the time. However, we at least should realise that there exist many others in this world, who are also living in the world of themselves. This can prevents you from thinking mistakenly that everyone else is just like you. More importantly, it will make others a source of amazing knowledge and insight to you.
Part of this course includes seeing things from others' view. For instance, a person who lives in a different place from you. They may not see things as you do, or they may see something you can't. Such kind of cognitive transition may change the things they believe. It's of great importance to be able to realise this.
Well, what's more incisive is that you need to imagine others' feeling, which means you must create a model of someone else's thought and sensation, and then put yourself into the model. The best way to do this is to imagine you were him/her and put yourself in the very situation of his/hers. Perhaps, the best way to learn how to put yourself in others' shoes is to study drama. ( Speaking of drama, I don't mean studying Shakespeare, but how to act in a play.) It's a pity that this part is not one of core courses in school. Therefore, you have to learn subjects like religion and psychology to settle for the second best. However, many schools don't actually offer such courses. So, you have to at least spend some time playing various RPGs, acting as different people with different beliefs and motives.
When sympathizing, you will understand and find the way to help you step over the wstrangement between you and others. For instance, to be polite and considerate means more to you now, since you can feel the hurt others feel when they're treated rudely. Equally, to be honest is more important, because you start to realise how obvious your lies are, and how irritating it is when treated as a fool that can be easily taken in.
Sympathization is not a kind of business deal, nor the application of techiques in interpersonal relationships like "Golden Rule" ( PS: "Do unto others as you would be done by.” from Bible.) It is the real feeling when you feel just like others. And you get to know them through your synchronous spiritual state. You are well-mannered because you feel bad when treated rudely; you treat others honestly because you feel offended when lied to.
You need to learn how to get this feeling. Once you get it, you will realise how meaningless your life was without it.
5. How to be Creative
Everyone is creative. If you look into your own life, you will find you have been creative in many places. Man is endowed with a natural creativity, which is just the way our brains work. Through practicing, this kind of ability can be very strong.
The key to strengthen creativity is to understand the way it works. Sometimes people think a creative idea comes out from nothing. But in fact, creativity is the result of practicing your knowlege in some way skillfully and tactfully.
Real innovation almost always exists in the reflection upon something. For instance, this article of mine is the response to another article with the same theme as I thought I had not talked thoroughly and clearly. Innovation may also occur in the response to a certain problem: how to save a cat, how to jump over a ditch, and how to hang the clothes. Therefore, in order to be creative, the first thing to do is to learn how to find the problem to be settled, the thing to be reflected upon, and the need to be met. This requires practice. Whenever you encounter a problem or a need, try to write it down or blog it.
Moreover, the occurance of innovation also relies on the interlace of spheres of knowledge and sometimes comprehensive application of knowledge. When you see a ditch in reality, think about how you jumped over it in online games. Or, when you need the acid liquor to clean the batteries, think about how you got rid of your redundant gastric acid.
In other words, creativity is usually realised by metaphor, that is to say, you need to learn how to find what current situation and other things you know have in common. This is what people called "think beyond the matter". You need to jump out of specific matters. Specific technique mentioned here is "pattern recognition", which is rather difficult to learn and requires very much practice, which makes creativity so hard.
But "pattern recognition" is learnable. It is what you do when you say a song is like another, and when you take a picture of flowers and fishing boats. Art is an activity of finding models from various things. This is why you should spare some time everyday to art this year, no matter it is music, photography, videography, stretching, oil painting of poetry.
6. How to Communicate Clearly
The first step to communicate clearly is to know what you want to say, then choose some easy tools to speak them out. Perhaps the most difficult part is getting to know what you really want to say. However, spending time to make sure you know what you want to say is more important than writing a pile of materials to express it.
Knowing what to say is usually a structural issue. Professional writers adopt a small group of common standard structure. For instance, some authors like articles( even a whole book!) containing a series of main points, just like this article. Another kind of structure, frequently called“pyramid style", is often adopted by journalists. The whole story is usually introduced in the first paragraph with every paragraph below offering more and more subodinate details.
In the extensional organization, the author is arguing, explaining, describing and defining, sometimes the mixing of them. Each of them has a different structure. Take argumentation for example, there must be a conclusion, which is the main point the author expects you to believe. The conclusion is supported by a group of presuppositions. It is a group of "relative words" that link the presuppositions and the conclusion. Such as the word"therefore", which stands for concluding.
To learn how to write clearly has something to do with the learning of tools ang the practice of them. Maybe the best method to learn organizing an article is to learn how to make a speech with the help of notes, which will force you to choose a clear organization( one that you can remember!), and ensure that they are practiced frankly and clearly. Later, I will write more on this topic. Now, you can refer to Keith Spicer's book Arrangement.
Plus, master professional writing techiques. Learn about the organization of arguement, exposition, descriptin and definition. Learn to use relative words to help readers get familiar with those article structures. Get a good knowledge of basic grammar, avoiding confusion in your sentenses. You can find information about these on the internet.
Then, keep practicing writing every day. A good way is to join a newspaper founded by students or volunteers, writing for a certain group within a limited period, together with a team, which will stimulate you to write faster. It's very useful, because it is much faster to write clearly than to write verbosely and confusingly. If there's not a ready newspaper, found one, or open a news blog.
7. Learn How to Learn
Your brain is made up by billions of interlinked nerve cells. Learning is essentially realizing the link of groups of nerve cells. No matter you are studying mathematics or watching the sky, nerve cells are interlinking. Therefore, your brain is keeping learning. The difference lies in how you learn.
When you are learning, you're trying to build a conneted model in your brain to link the nerve cells and to strengthen the links. This can be done by repeating groups of behavious and experiences. Learning is a process of constant practicing and repeating.
So, to learn anything, from"2+2=4" to quantum mechanical theory, you need to repeat again and again, in order to develop the links among nerve cells. Sometimes people learn through repeatedly reading aloud. This kind of mechanical learning was very common not long ago. It's not bad to take notes when listening to others' conversations, because you hear them once, then repeat once when you take them down.
Think about how to learn to throw a baseball. Someone is able to explain any details of this action, and you are able to understand all of them. But before you can skillfully master it, you still need to throw the baseball thousands of times. You must strengthen the links among your nerve cells as that of your muscles.
Some people think that learning is just memorizing some facts. Sometimes it's so. But learning is more like recognizing than memorizing. Since you are trying to build a network of nerve cells, you'd better learn about a linked integral instead of unlinked parts, because the linked integral you learn in a field possesses the same model with the one already known in another field. Learning in one field becomes more important in the cognitive model.
Sometimes the models we use are rather artificialized, just like that in "every good boy deserves fudge". In other cases, what's more useful is that the model is related to such things like natural rules, logic, mathematical theories, historical trends and how things work as an integral. Painting often help us find the model, that is why the mind map and conceptual graph are so popular.
As a matter of fact, you should regard the learning of mathematic, history, science and machinery as the learning of the prototypes, which also means that you are required to learn from the basic models through the acknowledgements time and again. When you study these subjects, you should ask“ What's the model?" instead of just"What's the fact?", in which way can you actually find it easier to learn them.
To learn how to learn is the same with learning other things, which requires practicing. You need to learn something every single day, to learn a random word in the dictionary or an random entry in the Wikipedia. As you are learning these, don't learn them separately, but to find the model: Whether can it apply for some model you've already known? Whether is it any of the types you've ever seen? Inset these words or concepts into the already-known knowledge in some ways, such as writing a blog post containing them, or paint a picture to explain them.
You should think about how to learn and what to learn all the time. Remember, you've been always learning, which means that you need to inquire: What are you learning when you are watching TV, shopping, driving and playing baseball? Which model is beiing created? Which model is being strengthened? How can you take this process under control?
8. How to keep fit
From reality, keeping fit contain two important factors: 1) avoiding explosure to diseases and zymoid to the minimal; 2) nursing carfully our organ and body.
To avoid explosure to disease and zymoid to the minimal is mainly a problem of cleaning and arranging. A easy thing such as putting methanol into the garage instead of the wardrobe in the kitchen, can reduce the danger of accidental intoxication to the minimal. Keeping the surface of cookers clean and stewing foof thoroughly can reduce the rate of getting infected by viruses. Wasing hands frequently can stop the spread of human contaminated germs and diseases.
It is for reasons of this sort that some of the hotspots in education concern about how to warn people of avoiding explosure to diseases and germs. If you contact with someone else, you will probably promote the spread of diseases, so, wear an exposure suit. If possible, avoid behaviors like drinking beverage, eating fatty food, smoking and taking drugs, which are typically easy to bring in germs.
Keeping personal body fit may be more important, because the main threats to our health usually relate to the decrease of the body progressing. Learn how to ensure proper nutrition and physical exercise and practice more. Even if you don't mean to be a healthy partisan(who would like to be like that?), it's undoubtedly useful to know which food and whichh behavior is good for health. Develop a habit of eating healthy food and taking beneficial exercise.
Exercise positively in certain way every day. Riding to work or school, walking a mile, as a sport or exercise. Plus, keep eating at least one meal of beneficial food everyday( such as that includes protein and mineral), like meat, vegetable, or rice, fruits and so on. If your school don't provide proper amount of exercise or nutrition, ask for them! If you are sick or hungry, you cannot learn anything any way. Otherwise, try to make a substitute plan and find a work at noon.
Last but not least: you'll never need to prove the importance of protect your life and health. If you don't want to do it because you think it is unsafe, then you have the right to refuse doing that. Result, any result is better than compromising.
9. How to be More Valuable
The whole society may be said to be colluding to make you feel bad and even cynical, but it may not be totally wrong. Advertisers make you feel so bad that you will buy their products. Statesmen make you feel so helpless that you will depend on their policies and plans. Even your friends and acquaintances will try to make you feel suspicious about yourself so that they can get some advantages to compete with you.
You can possess all the knowledge and skills in the world, but if you can't be convinced that you are capable to use them, they are of no use. Just like owning a Lamborghin car without driving license, it stops on the traffic lane shining. Unless you can start it, you will not get any value.
To make youself more valuable partly is a matter of personal development and partly a matter of choice. In order to be more valuable, you need to feel that you are worthy of this value. In fact, you are, but the way to help you ensure this is to realise some goal, learn some skills, or win some credit. In order to be more valuable, you also must tell yourself " I am of great value!".
This is very important. How we treat ourselves, like other things, needs learning. If someone tell you time and again that you are of no use, and if you pays no reaction, you will gradually believe that you are of no use. Because it will cause the formation of nerve links of " you are of no use". However ,if you repeat believing it, and repeat telling yourself that " I am of value!", then you will totally believe what you keep telling yourself.
What exactly make you valuable? It has many representitives. For example, it is a kind of faith: you are good enough so as to have an attitude, a voice and a saying that proves that your contribution works. It can be a kind of view: you are capable. You can learn new things and be creative. Your personal well-being doesn't depend on a certain person or organization. You can depend on yourself, and determine your way of life all by yourself.
All of these are your rights. But you are not born with them. You must fight for them through your personal effort and self-confidence( no matter what they say).
You are not taught of this in any course at school, which even may try to destroy your self-effort and self-respect. You should keep aweared of this, so you must take the responsible for your personal value.
Do like this every single day: tell yourself that you are smart, you are cool and you are strong; you are great and you can be whatever you want to. In the morning, speak it out loud--if necessary, you can speak them out when taking shower. Do it! Then, take these qualities into practice. Doing crosswords can make you smarter. Dress out your own style to make yourself cooler. Do something that you tell yourself to do , so as to make youself stronger. Doing good makes you better.
10. How to Live a Meaningful Life
This may be the most difficult to learn among all, and the least to be taught of.
As a matter of fact, living a meaningful life is a combination of several things. In a sense, it means your contribution to some goals or objectives, but it also refers to the appreciation and dedication here and now. Last, it makes you realise your position in this world. Creating your own meaning of life is up to you.
Many a people spend their whole life without knowing what they are living for. They have been chasing all the way after money, fame or power, no matter whether they can realise these goals or not at last. They all find life empty and meaningless, because they mix up process and the result---the pursuit of money, fame and power are onlly for the purpose to do something worthwhile.
What is worthwhile to do? It up to you. I choose to sacrifice my life to help others get education. While others choose to cure diseases, explore the space, worship the God, build up a family, design cars, or to attain enlightenment.
If you stll cannot decide what worth you doing, some others will make the decision for you. At a time, you will realise that you havenot done anything worth doing. Therefore, today, please spare some time to think about what exactly worth doing. You can change your mind tomorrow, but at least you will have started to lead yourself to somewhere.
The second is what is called "live in the present", which is a prospective to control your one's own thoughts. Your thoughts can not give you power. What makes sense is the present. If you think of something, like hope, failure, fear and so on, these thoughts won't harm you. It depends on yourself to determine how much you trust them.
The other side of this question is: what you are doing now is what you want to do most. You may be thinking:" Impossible! I'd rather be on the Malibu beach now!" However, if you really want to go to Malibu beach, you should have been there. The reason why you didn't go there is that you chose other things more prior in your life: your family, your job and your country.
Once you have realise that you are capable to choose what to do, you will recognize that you are ready to take the result, which means, the result, even it's bad, is a kind of choice to a large extent.
This understanding is very revolutionary. Think about it. To a reader, what real counts is what I most want to do is to write this article to you---Yes, for you to read. More amazingly, as an author, I know one thing you would like to do most, even prior to going to Malibu beach, that is reading your own words, which inspires me to write down something meaningful, which will endow me with my meaning of life.