Canaan Foundation for Education
A practical, “real life” learning resource center.
Our aim is to provide the resources, information, learning opportunities and connections to achieve real life “success” in our current world.
We are not an academic institution and we don’t provide certificates or diplomas. What you actually do and how well you do it – is enough of a measure of your achievement.
You are responsible for your own learning, but we can help you to decide.
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Fallacies about success.
It may have been true in the “golden age” of the American Dream… where you could more or less achieve success if you worked hard and persevered. (And it helped if you were white, male, heterosexual and Christian.)
Not any more.
Globalisation and mega corporations have such a monopolistic hold on what kind of work you can do, what you can earn, what you consume, which regulations apply to you, how much you pay in taxes and medical care and insurance, even what you think and who you vote for, and whether you will be “free” or incarcerated… that you are limited in what you can achieve.
Sure, it helps to break out of the limitations of our school, culture and religious indoctrination.
But positive thinking and a “millionaire mindset”, etc. won’t be enough and could even lead to disaster.
There are hundreds of books written by wealthy, successful people who explain how they did it. They all claim that if you have the same mindset, develop the same habits and work hard and persevere then you can also achieve fame, wealth and success.
Yes, in one way they are right. If you do nothing and think negatively and are lazy then it is unlikely that you will achieve anything in life. But there are thousands of people who also work hard, persevere, have good habits and a positive mindset – and they either fail or they only just manage to get by.
Malcolm Gladwell explained in Outliers that for every successful talented person, there are thousands of equally talented people who never became successful, primarily because they didn’t encounter the same opportunities. (For example, Michael Oher was recognized as a talented sportsman at an early age by a wealthy white family, who subsequently adopted him. He later explains that if the kids who live in the slums of Memphis where he grew up received the same opportunities as himself, there would be many dozens of equally successful national league footballers.)
So how can we “make” our own opportunities, or for our children?
We believe that these are the crucial ingredients to success:
- Become financially literate.
- Develop business and marketing skills.
- Understand about personal connections, esp. with wealthy or influential people.
- Know your limitations (you cannot compete with the economies of scale of governments or corporations; so you shouldn’t ever try to compete on price, say).
- Determine what is “enough” for you, the less you need, the more likely you will achieve “success” and be content with what you have.
- Think through your goals and desires to the end: what will you do each day, once you’ve achieved your goals? Will you want to continue doing this for the rest of your life? Even rock stars can lead boring lives, but may be trapped because they don’t have any alternatives, and they are forced to maintain the lifestyle of their dreams!
For children, we offer a kind of homeschool (or after-school) environment where they can pursue their own interests. We don’t waste time on trying to improve your grades.
For teenagers and adults, you can participate in an entrepreneurial incubation community, where you learn from others who have professional skills in areas that can help you develop a successful business or freelance profession of your own.
You may have skills, ideas, talents of your own that you can pass on to others in the group too.
It’s a kind of co-learning, co-working mastermind group.
