Your Cab is a Free University

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What can you do while stuck inside a metal box, strapped to 80 thousand pounds, careening at 55 miles per hour, and surrounded by four-wheelers who drive like they're playing a game of Mario Kart with nothing to lose?

You can try to get more out of life than what you're currently getting—and for free!

The Rule Of 100

The Rule of 100 states that if you spend only 18 minutes a day or 100 hours a year on something, you can become better than 95% of the world at that skill. Essentially, you can become an expert in a specific subject.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mfubiPq0eko

Additionally, James Clear, in his book "Atomic Habits," famously reinvigorates the well-known fact that a habit can be intentionally created if practiced for 2 minutes a day for at least 30 consecutive days.

How does this all relate to you and me as truck drivers, you may ask?

Truck drivers find themselves stuck behind the wheel for many hours at a time, and during that time, they fill their experience with phone chats, music, and a variety of other mindless inputs.

This excessive and valuable block of time is much like the metaphor of sitting at the dinner table to eat a giant meal. We consume every minute and hour we are driving and listening to external sources of input. If we are what we eat, then it is also clear that we will become what we think! You become what you feed yourself. The information you feed your mind will transform your thinking and your character. Your quality of life is a byproduct of your thinking and character.

If you don't like what you've been getting from life, then change yourself. A smart person once told me, "If you change nothing, then nothing will change."

The steering wheel is the table, and what you listen to while you drive is your mental food. The truck cab can either be your university for greater knowledge, power, and personal evolution or a romper room of stagnant brain-bloating complacency developing habits.

What is Bad Mental Nutrition?

Fiction, music, propaganda, nonsense videos, and movies, for example, would be considered mental junk food.

What is Good Mental Nutrition?

Non-fiction, fact-based news, educational videos, documentaries, and educational courses would be considered healthy food for the mind.

How Do I Take Advantage of This Free University?

The key is to consistently learn and/or practice whatever positive interest you have for a small amount of time each day, rather than trying to do a lot all at once. This approach helps you develop habits and improve your knowledge, understanding, and wisdom gradually. The 100-Hour Rule is based on the idea that if you break down a topic into smaller learning sessions, it usually takes around 100 hours to incorporate them and achieve greater personal optimization.

This doesn't mean cutting out your music or other media inputs. It just means that if you aren't already optimizing your huge blocks of driving time with good mental nutrition, your mind is probably on a consistent diet of truck-stop food, and we all know the kind of quality of life that gives us.

Beginning the Process

To begin the process, think about a subject you've been putting off, one that interests you and also improves your quality of life.

Examples include:

- How to tune-up a carburetor

- How to play guitar

- How to speak a different language

- How to be more romantic

- How to adjust the digital clock on my dashboard

- How to learn to weld on the cheap

- How to better understand human behavior

Here is a list of takeaways you can use to find personal optimization while driving:

- Audio Books

- Online Courses

- Free Educational Videos

- Podcasts

Be well, stay safe and keep your hands dirty!


#TruckLife #DriverWellness #MindfulDriving #PersonalOptimization #ContinuousLearning #ExpertiseDevelopment #KnowledgeUpgrade #ProductiveDriving #SelfImprovement #HabitFormation #FocusedDriving #MentalNutrition #SkillBuilding #LifeEnhancement #TimeBehindTheWheel #TruckDriverEducation #PositiveHabits #KnowledgeJourney #MindfulTrucking #DrivingEnrichment 

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