The Diploma Is Dead - Insights From a Motivational Speaker

Have you got kids?

What are you telling them about study and careers?

This morning at Footpath University (my daily 5am podcast walk), I heard this:

“Originally, it was projected that all these truck drivers would lose their employment. Instead, we're going to live in a world where the diagnostic capabilities of a doctor are more replaceable than the social-emotional skills of a nurse.” (Sam Harris podcast, #418 — 3 June 2025)

That flip happened in just five years.

Meanwhile, we’re still enrolling our kids in a 5–10 year education plan

for a job that might not exist by graduation.

The old model?

Learn → Work → Retire

Dead.

The new model?

Learn → Unlearn → Relearn

Forever.

You don’t need a diploma.

You need curiosity.

YouTube and AI are teaching what school never did.

The winners now? They’re the proud beginners.

🔑 Make adaptability a daily habit, not a yearly panic.

Wear your L-plates proudly.

This is a world that rewards learners, not knowers.

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If we haven’t met yet…

I never considered myself good at change until I went from

Average shot → Army sniper

Home movies → National Geographic cameraman

Fumbling card tricks → Professional magician

Never swinging a hammer → Built a home

High school dropout → Published author

Business rookie → Sold a business

Stutterer → Motivational speaker

Turns out I know how to change, I know how to make it simple, and I know how to stand on stage & make it fun so others want to do it too.