Surrounding Yourself With The Brightest People

Another principle that Elon Musk follows in his quest for self-education is surrounding himself with the best and the brightest people.

He would strike up conversations with people who were the best in their field, acquire their knowledge and expertise through discussions, and then try to replicate that knowledge when he applied it to his endeavors.

It is for this reason that he keeps a close network of industry experts some of whom he even employs. In fact, Jim Cantrell actually worked with Musk at SpaceX for a time before moving on to his own ventures.