With the Olympics in full swing, I wanted to bring to your attention a neat story about hopes, dreams, and the power of self-directed learning. Julius Yego is probably a name you haven’t heard unless you follow the sport of competitive spear-throwing also known as javelin. He is an Olympic silver medalist (2016 Rio) and currently holds fifth place on the all-time list of furthest throws at 92.72 meters (304 feet). These impressive achievements are made even more incredible when considering Yego’s origin story.
Julius grew up on a farm in Kenya. His bedroom was an 8x8 foot shack with a tin roof. There was no electricity. In spite of these circumstances, Julius somehow discovered javelin and dreamed of being a champion even from a young age. In following the Lacy Principle, Yego never let limited access to resources stifle his attitude. He simply used whatever he had around him. I love the part of this short documentary where the kids are shown making javelins out of dried tree branches. Now that’s the bare maximum:
Unable to hire a coach until late in his career, Julius relied on studying footage of other Olympic champions via YouTube. His technique was forged, not by physical instruction, but rather by a sort of self-directed film study made possible by the internet’s free* access to information.
It truly feels like the availability of learning resources is no longer a limiting factor: you can basically learn anything online. It makes me really consider the value of traditional schooling and especially higher education. If I’m evaluating the two options purely on knowledge acquisition, it’s hard to justify six figure tuition and board costs compared to a curriculum of YouTube videos and essays published on Medium that are tailored to my goals.
I don’t want to over-index on internet access being the number one contributor to Julius Yego’s success as an athlete; it’s hard to say how good he would have been had he never watched YouTube. But one thing is clear from his story: many barriers that have historically stood in the way of our goals are fading. And once those external barriers are gone, what will remain?