How many times have you heard advice that you already knew and said, “Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” then proceeded to move on about your day without even a second thought?
Maybe it was a tip on how to close more sales or a way to build stronger, more fulfilling personal relationships or changes to your diet that could help you to lead a healthier life.
I am willing to gamble and say that at some point in all of our lives we have been guilty of this. So what’s the big deal? Why does this even matter?
First and foremost, it matters because these are important opportunities for you to become a better person. Furthermore, knowledge is not usually the limiting factor to achieving your goals and having a fulfilling life. But shrugging off the fundamentals and thinking that you know everything can be. As people, businessmen, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters you must remember that your life is a continuous journey of learning – at no point do you know everything.
Life also tends to be very circumstantial – meaning that some knowledge is only useful during certain situations. It is important that you hear the Right Message at the Right Time for it to be relevant. Many times you will hear the Right Message but it’s at the Wrong Time, and that message, no matter how great, inevitably goes unnoticed.
It’s like marketing – the Right Message at the Right Time to the Right Market using the Right Media. If all the pieces aren’t there then the marketing campaign is a bust. And in the same regard, valuable knowledge can be a bust too.
So how do you minimize these lost opportunities to improve? It’s as easy as the following mindset shift.
From now on when you hear something you already know, don’t say, “Yeah I already know that,” say, “How good am I at that?”
Yes, how good are you? If rated, are you in the top 5%? If not, then you might know but you’re not good.
Knowledge is one of our most powerful tools, but only when it is applied.
