I recall the stark difference between a professor in college that spent their career in academia vs. the one who had work experience outside the classroom. It’s not that I fault the ones who began their profession as a college professor, it’s just that the ones with real world experience seemed to be able to teach and apply the concepts better. They had real world experiences to reinforce the lessons. The ones who started their professional careers in a college classroom were just too heady for me.
Too much ethereal concepts, not enough application.
Turns out, too much knowing and too little doing can be detrimental to a purposeful future. It also results in a false sense of confidence.
“Oh, I saw that on YouTube, it can’t be that hard.” And all of the sudden, you’re an expert.
Not likely.
Unless knowledge pushes you to action, it seems fairly pointless. Acquiring knowledge is not the accomplishment.
However, knowledge is certainly an important part of the process. Wouldn’t you agree?
But ultimately, most of the understanding you need can only come from actually doing it, not just knowing it.
Consuming information leads to the strategies and skills you need. But activating those strategies and developing those skills requires action. When push comes to shove, it doesn’t matter what you know, it matters what you can do. The link between knowing and doing…is discipline.
It’s simply not good enough to know but not do. Your life deserves better. Knowing but not doing is nothing more than an empty promise. Your future deserves better.
This isn’t a new concept. Most of my essays aren’t. You know this. You know that knowledge without action is futile. Yet, we often fall into the rut. Taking action on what we know is hard. The easy button is always within reach. But it doesn’t lead to a fulfilling life.
Act on what you know.
Do the work. Take action.
Make sure the quality of your actions shows the knowledge you have.
And may you live on purpose today.
