Knowledge and Wisdom

“Do the knowledge son, before you do the wisdom” – RZA

The above quote plays in my head anytime I try to talk myself out of reading a book. It confirms that if I am ever going to be wise, I must do the research. I must study what those before me already know. But now I find myself with a fair amount of knowledge (there is still – and always will be –  plenty of room for more) but little the wiser.

I read and listen and talk about productivity practically any chance I get. I’m full of quotes about discipline and progress and can offer up solutions to a multitude of problems that others have, yet I struggle to apply any of the concepts to my own life. That is, any concept that goes beyond the reading of books.

Of course, books are a viable source of growth, and my life has certainly improved since I decided to become a reader. However, it seems as though the majority of what I read simply enters into my brain and floats around, untethered and unused, except, as mentioned, when applicable to the ails of others. Almost as though my brain has become a primitive form of Google, where nothing is really learned, it is just a place to retrieve quick answers. No better than the character in Kanye West’s “College Dropout” skits, who does nothing but go to school. Though I don’t even have a stack of degrees to keep me warm at night and pass down to my children, I just have a Word Document of all the books I’ve read. Which, in itself, as absolutely preposterous. What good does that actually do me?

“Knowledge, without action, is wasted” or some variation thereof, is a quote I often see. A book on productivity isn’t complete without it. So what then is the point of reading all these books if I do nothing with what I’ve learned? This is the question I find myself asking at this time, forcing the decision to not read anything for the next week. At least, nothing of the “self-improvement” genre. That goes for podcasts as well. And when I do return to my studies, I’m going to be much more selective. Reason being is that I’ve found myself overwhelmed by the inputs. Over the course of a day I can read one book on the bus to and from work, listen to a handful of chapters from an audio book in the morning while at work, and then listen to a podcast in the afternoon, which, by the way, recommends other books to read and podcasts to listen to. It’s all too much! Surely I should have stopped this process a long time ago, but the thirst to always learn more, to find that one sentence that will change my life, could not be discarded. I simply felt compelled to constantly be learning.

Obviously, to complain that there is too much information in the world is idiotic, but so too is trying to listen to everything with the intent of trying everything. Only a finite amount of actions can be taken in a day, they need only be chosen and enacted. But when in the hallway of opportunity, it does no good to walk past all the doors, marveling at all that is available, and never opening a door. Two simple questions must be answered: What do I want to do? And which technique will I use to do it? That’s all there is to it. I can figure it out if I was wrong later, but at least I will have tried something.