One of my favorite courses, that I ended up taking while obtaining my Masters of Arts in Sports Management at Wingate University (Shameless Plug), was Education 535: Action Research.

The instructor of the course was Dr. Robert Corbin, who was also the Vice President of Learning Experiences at Discovery Place (another Shameless Plug).

Dr. Corbin taught a myriad of techniques related to conducting quantitative and qualitative research methods; however, I will never forget arguably the two most important lessons at that point in my life.

1. Reuse as much of your seminal research as possible during your post-graduate studies.

 

2. We are all scientists.

Those of you who have started your major courses in undergrad, or in post-graduate studies, please please PLEASE heed lesson number one; it is an invaluable method to completing your work.  You can often build off the concepts from your own work or in some cases use the whole thing over again.

The more important concept, and the reason for this piece, is lesson number two.  On the very first day of class, Dr. Corbin stood in front of everyone and said, “I want you to envision what a scientist looks like to you, and draw a picture on a sheet of paper”.

(DON’T LAUGH AT MY DRAWING. . . .You laughed didn’t you?)

I’m sure like many of you, you think of something similar to the poorly drawn figure I attached above.  A Walter White looking individual, complete with lab coat, protective eye wear, playing around with microscopes, beakers, and mixing chemicals (blue meth not included).  Dr. Corbin continues that the image of the nerdy person in a lab coat is a misconception.  To be a scientist, all you have to do is ask the question, why?

Any subject with an “-ology” at the end of it, merely started off, as an unknown, and a person daring to continue to ask questions, building a large base of questions that led to even more questions, and slowly but surely, that person began to whittle down the scope, narrowing the focus through quantitative and qualitative reasoning until answers arise.

“Those who do research belong to a community of scholars, each of whom has journeyed into the unknown to bring back a fact, a truth, a point of light.  What they have recorded of their journey and their findings will make it easier for you to explore the unknown:  To help you also discover a fact, a truth or bring back a point of light.”  – Paul Leedy

Actually, this quote took me back to the lessons of grade school, when students were taught to create a hypothesis, when encountering a problem, and from there, continue to test and test; maybe you wouldn’t get the outcome you expected, but you will gain a systematically proven conclusion based off those test steps.

The connection I’d like to make for you here is, nearly anything imaginable, can be questioned, studied, and improved upon.  So, what is your reasoning for not taking actions?

Many endeavors in life, we avoid because we view them as daunting, insurmountable.  If one merely takes the time to gather the proper questions, you will find yourself systematically tackling the problem.

Since, I have taken that class I have applied this approach to many aspects in my life:

I want to get into the stock market

• What is an equity security?
• What is a debt security?
• What is common stock? What is preferred stock?
• What are options?
• What are ETFs?
• What are REITs?
• What can volatility in the market be contributed to?
• How do I know there is a marketplace for a particular stock with enough movement to capitalize on?

See what I mean?

I was probably THE worse person in the city of Charlotte when it came to interactions with women 5 years ago.  I came across a couple of books that changed my life completely, and interactions with women became a science.

How is my body language? Vocal projection? Where is the hook point in the interaction?

We Are All Scientists. . .

Going back to the Paul Leedy quote, this blog, Inner Reign, was my version of journeying to bring back a fact, a truth, a point of light.  To bring my perspective to men everywhere and to aid in their journey for their truths, their point of light.

Once I knew I could study, learn, and adapt to women, I knew then I could study anything I wanted to, apply myself, and achieve anything I put my mind to.

I want to start a blog

• How do I get started?
• How much would a domain and hosting cost?
• How does copyrights and trademarking work?
• Do I need to allocate costs to that?
• How much would it cost to specially code my site?
• How do I design a logo for brand recognition?
• What is my mission statement?
• . . .
• . . .

In conclusion, there is no reason why you cannot better yourself in any capacity you choose to put your mind to.  You want to get better with women? Study, test in the field, come back with conclusions. You want to be more efficient with your time? engender social change? start a business? Whatever it is, a simple “why?” can take you to places you wouldn’t believe.

Who says you can’t use the things you learn in school, in real life?

Weather Your Storm, Maintain Inner Reign -E