Two weeks ago I listened to yet another incredible podcast by Tony Robbins. If you are reading my material and are not listening to Robbins; stop reading my material and dive into his work.
The thing I love about Tony’s work is that he is always giving 1000% more value to his listeners, subscribers, readers, and followers than they are ever going to give to him in return.
One of the coolest things I had ever heard actually came from his podcast the other week where he was talking to a lady (named Aly) push through her hurt and pain so that she could reach her potential as a person, a wife, and an entrepreneur. One thing he said was:
“Knowledge is not power. It is potential power. It is the application of knowledge that leads to power”.
After hearing this I immediately thought, “Of course — why haven’t I thought about this?”.
Then I thought, “Why isn’t anyone talking about this?”.
See knowledge is just that. Knowledge. It is nothing more than a placeholder; unless we choose to act on it.
A lot of us spending years gaining a ton of knowledge yet don’t truly apply it. One example I have heard before is that it is much easier to stand and the shore and look across the water than it is to start the swim across the other side.
It is somewhat easy to gain knowledge, but it is how you act on knowledge gained that will produce wonderful results for your life, relationships, and for your business.
Last year I set out with the goal of writing a book. After spending two weeks humming and talking about it, I decided enough was enough. It was time to act on all the knowledge I had gained to put together the best book I possibly could. Could I have sat on the idea for another year? Sure. Could I have spent more time researching what I wanted to write on? Of course. Could I have believed my personal story that kept telling me I was never going to be a successful author? Why not — that story seemed ‘safe’ for me.
Instead, I choose to forge ahead and write my book.
Then I wrote another.
Now I am focusing on mobilizing the ideas for my 3rd and 4th books for 2021 and 2023.
All of this is not to tell you my to do list in life. It is to simply remind you that knowledge is not power. You could have the best book in the world but it may be stuck in your head. You may believe you can be the best business leader in the world but until you transfer your knowledge to others on your team, who will follow you to that pursuit?
I am all about reading books. In fact, I read about 12–15 books a year (I aim for about 1 per month). The challenge for me is not reading, it is that I need to remind myself to take the readings and lessons learned to apply to my writing style and reader message. Until this knowledge gained is not transferred, it holds no power. In turn, your knowledge is really only a placeholder instead of a day to day tool that transforms your life, business and relationships of the around you.
A placeholder is only used when someone needs it to hold something.
A life tool is something you can use any day, anytime, anywhere, with anyone — not just when it is needed like that of the placeholder.
My challenge for you this week is to continue to gain knowledge but also to ACT on that knowledge. Bring it to your teams, your marriage, your family, etc.. Don’t let the knowledge you have become a placeholder at a restaurant table. Fill the restaurant and feed everyone with what you have gained!
—
Previously published on medium
*******************************
***
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project and want to join our calls on a regular basis, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
Talk to you soon.
*************************
Photo credit: by Clay Banks on Unsplash
