‘It’s make-it or break-it time’

Posted 02/01/2013

The difference between Knowledge and Wisdom is easy. Knowledge is reading and learning how to become a millionaire and Wisdom is becoming one. ~ Steven Scott

I’m currently reading and studying a book by Steven Scott called “The Richest Man Who Ever Lived.” It’s a book on King Solomon and a book he wrote called Proverbs. In Scott’s book he states the quote above, talking about the difference between knowledge and wisdom. He says knowledge is “acquiring information” and wisdom is “applying valued truths to any given situation in life in general.”

This really got me thinking.

Many of us have read articles, been to seminars, watched webinars and even met with and hired consultants and have accumulated a whole lot of knowledge. But do we apply it? Do we put it into practice? I recently read a blog by Seth Goodin in which he says we will do one of two things: We will make the mistake of investing too much time in staying status quo. Or there is the mistake made while inventing the future, the error of small experiments gone badly. He says, “We are almost never hurt by the second kind of mistake and yet we persist in making the first kind, again and again.”

I tend to agree. We invest all of this time, money and energy on learning how to become relevant and changing with the times, but then do we take that next step and try it? Even if it means we may fail a few times or make some mistakes?

The holidays are over, the resolutions are over, it’s several months before the next holiday break. In reality, it’s make-it or break-it time. It’s one of my favorite times of the year because I love to work, I love to build something: whether it’s a 1973 Mustang Mach I or a new business idea. Now is when I can give it all I have, to see what I can accomplish. There have been times when the ideas do work and there have been times when they don’t always go as planned. In fact, they just plain fail. But the key is to apply the information and try it. This is where I always refer back to another quote I enjoy: “Someone will always say you can’t; prove them wrong.”