If I Had to Do It Again… College, MBA, MS — What I Would Do Now
The Real Education Isn’t in the Degree — It’s in the Doing
Let me tell you the truth I wish I knew sooner:
If I had to do it all again—college, MBA, MS—I’d do it completely differently.
Not because I regret learning.
But because I now know how much faster, cheaper, and more effective it can be to learn what actually matters.
And it’s not in the classroom. It’s in the field.
Let’s break it down.
College: What I Did vs. What I Should’ve Done (or Would do Now)
I went to college because it was the default.
Everyone told me:
“You need a degree to be successful.”
And back then, it made sense.
But today?
The ROI of a college degree is falling.
The skills taught are outdated.
The debt is outrageous.
And the real world doesn’t care about your GPA.
If I were 18 again, I’d skip the dorms and go straight to:
- Working a real job
- Taking targeted online courses
- Reading daily and writing publicly
- Learning sales, communication, and systems
- Building projects and documenting my results
Instead of graduating with debt, I’d graduate with a portfolio, income, and real-world experience.
MBA: What I Thought It Would Do vs. What It Actually Did
I thought the MBA would catapult my career.
Some of it helped.
I learned frameworks.
I met smart people.
I got better at thinking strategically.
But I didn’t learn how to:
- Start a business
- Sell or negotiate
- Lead under pressure
- Operate in ambiguity
- Make money in the real world
If I had to do it over?
I’d build my own “street MBA.”
I’d master:
- Revenue skills (copywriting, offers, pricing, customer acquisition)
- Operating skills (processes, delegation, analytics)
- Strategic skills (mental models, leverage, positioning)
And I’d do it while earning money in a real world job, not burning money.
MS Degree: Going Deep… into a Narrow Hole
The MS was supposed to make me a subject-matter expert.
And technically, it did.
But here's the problem:
- Specialized knowledge becomes obsolete fast
- Most programs are built on outdated academic models
- The “signal” of the degree isn’t worth the cost anymore
If I wanted deep expertise today, I’d skip the degree.
Instead, I’d:
- Take elite workshops and masterclasses
- Work under experts on real problems
- Publish my learnings in public
- Get results that prove my ability—not just my attendance
That’s the new MS: Mastery in Service.
What I’d Tell My Younger Self
If I could rewind and coach myself at three points in life, here’s what I’d say:
At 18:
“Don’t waste time chasing credentials. Learn how to think, sell, and build. Work hard, and start documenting your results.”
At 25:
“Don’t get stuck in middle-management thinking. Create value, not just reports. Learn how to lead and scale.”
At 30:
“Specialize with skills, not degrees. Make yourself hard to replace. Get out of the classroom and into the arena.”
Education vs. Schooling
The biggest lesson?
Schooling is a system.
Education is a mindset.
You don’t need permission to start.
You don’t need debt to learn.
You don’t need titles to create value.
What you need is:
- Focus
- Feedback
- Real work
- A bias toward action
- And a willingness to be uncomfortable
That’s what creates confidence.
That’s what builds leverage.
That’s what gets you ahead of most college grads, MBAs, and even PhDs.
Final Word
If I had to do it again?
I wouldn’t go back to school.
I’d go forward into skill stacking, project building, result creation, and public proof.
Because in today’s world:
- Proof > Paper
- Skills > Status
- Speed > Credentials
- Application > Theory
That’s not a rebellion. That’s an upgrade.
And it’s exactly what we teach at Myford University.
You don’t need a new degree.
You need a new approach.
Ready?
Let’s build it together.
Want to read the full article? Find it here.
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