Choose intellectual curiosity over mindless consistency.

I read that in the description of Adam Grant’s new book, Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know. I am looking forward to reading it.

In a rapidly changing world, without the right knowledge, you have no leverage. No power. The knowledge you don’t have or relevant information you don’t know you need to know maybe the reason you are not making real progress in your life or career.

If you feel stuck or haven’t achieved anything worthwhile in a very long time, rethink your assumptions about life, work, habits and behaviours that contribute to long-term growth.

Don’t repeat the same processes and expect different results. Find new knowledge. Read great books for better insight. Or find systems people have figured out and use those as your baseline for making progress.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Albert Einstein said that.
If you keep doing what you’ve always done but expect a different result, you are wasting your precious time. There’s great power in knowing what you don’t know. It’s the beginning of practical wisdom.

The wisdom of ignorance can guide you to unlearn what doesn’t work and relearn better knowledge to make informed choices and life-changing decisions.

Knowing what you don’t know allows you to keep an open mind. It puts you in a better position to adapt when you find practical knowledge.

If you are willing to question your current beliefs, assumptions, perceptions and the “facts” you’ve accumulated over the years, you will put yourself in a better position to upgrade your level of thinking, and improve your blind spots.

“Understanding the limitations of your knowledge puts you at an advantage from people who overestimate their knowledge or aren’t aware of their own ignorance,” writes Steven Handel.

The key to getting more knowledge is deciding what not to know and what deserves your attention. Because your time is limited.

Knowing how to direct your attention and what can help you in the near future determines your approach to learning new skills, habits and processes that can advance your goals.

The ability to know what you don’t know is a skill. And like every other skill, it can be improved and made better. You just have to know what questions to ask.

I find opportunities to improve my knowledge, habits and processes in the books and long-form posts I read, the podcasts I listen to, the newsletters I subscriber to, smart tweets and the influencers I follow.

The point is, better knowledge is available all around us, but knowing where and how to find it requires stepping away the “usual” content feeds you are used to and moving towards the intelligent gathering of knowledge sources that can improve your life and career skills.

I actively invest in myself. “Investing in yourself is the most important investment you’ll ever make in your life. . . . There’s no financial investment that’ll ever match it because if you develop more skill, more ability, more insight, more capacity, that’s what’s going to really provide economic freedom. . . . It’s those skill sets that really make that happen,” writes Tim Ferriss, in his book, Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers.

Choose intellectual curiosity and mental flexibility over mindless consistency. It’s the path to wisdom, better knowledge and reinvention.

Here’s one of my favourite quotes about seeking knowledge:

“Don’t think about why you question, simply don’t stop questioning. Don’t worry about what you can’t answer, and don’t try to explain what you can’t know. Curiosity is its own reason. Aren’t you in awe when you contemplate the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvellous structure behind reality?

And this is the miracle of the human mind — to use its constructions, concepts, and formulas as tools to explain what man sees, feels and touches. Try to comprehend a little more each day. Have holy curiosity.”

Albert Einstein said that. He thought questioning and curiosity were the key to learning and seeking knowledge.

People are sometimes afraid to look ignorant out of fear of seeming “stupid.” And yet the smartest people on the planet are often the ones who ask the most questions and seek a better way to solve problems in life and career.

“You live in ignorance, and always will. What matters is picking, validating, and assimilating the knowledge which is relevant for you, and tuning that skills, balancing them with openness to the new,” writes Vico Biscotti.

According to Socrates, clearing our minds of false ideas (through new and tested knowledge) even if it leaves us in a state of confessed ignorance is a valuable and a necessary step to becoming wise. Socrates believed that — the love of wisdom — was the most important pursuit above all else.

When you discover a gap in your knowledge,
  view it as an opportunity to seek wisdom to become a better human. 

You don’t need decades to get what you want…

…the insights years provide can change your life.

Experience teaches many lessons, but usually in a passive way. You don’t need years, but rather the insights years gradually provide. One way is to simply ask the top people what they do. Make their best practices your baseline.”

It’s profound and true. I’ve been learning from people smarter than me for years. Most things have already been figured out. Intelligence is scattered all over the internet. But it’s of no use if you can’t find it or apply it to your specific circumstances.

The quest for intellectual growth and self-improvement can help you discover valuable and practical wisdom that can become the baseline for your success.

Want your life, career, relationships and finances to improve? Be more curious and intellectually humble. If you haven’t figured out the habits, routines, behaviours, mindsets and actions you need to build a better foundation for success, get to work fast.

Learn from what the experts, high performers and high achievers have already figured out. Read their books, posts, listen to their interviews and most importantly read their biographies. It will speed up your learning. And you will spare yourself the unnecessary waste of time.

“Experience is a master teacher, even when it’s not our own,” says Gina Greenlee. If you are driven to learn from what others have already figured out, you will learn their hacks, systems, tools, habits and failures in record time.

And with that knowledge, you can do more than what average people are doing in the same amount of time. This is why books are so valuable. I read them at every opportune moment.

The amount of practical knowledge available books is insane. The real skill is knowing what to read or what to ignore. And making time to read what you find. That is what uncovers the real insight you need to succeed in almost all areas of your life. You can’t achieve much if you are not willing to take time to absorb knowledge and practice skills.

It’s easier to internalize lessons learned through personal experience but you don’t live long enough to make all the mistakes yourself and learn from them. Time is not your friend.

Experience is one of the best ways to gain knowledge but the real wisdom is knowing which problems and mistakes to avoid.

The good news is, others have already figured out what works on the same path you are on. What better way than to learn from people who made life-changing mistakes, but found a way to get back up and still make it in life.

That’s why books and podcasts are important for your ultimate progress. If you’re not reading or experimenting with what you learn, you’re not learning fast enough.

Often the best people to learn from are those who are just ahead of you in their journey. They’ve just been through what you’re going through. Use their knowledge and insight as a guide to build a better life.

Turn decades of experience to your advantage.

“Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself,” says Alfred Sheinwold.

Relevant and recent experiences are powerful tools to get what you want. The best education comes from real-world experience. That is why it pays to value experience as a learning method. Life is too short to ignore all the free and valuable resources around you.

“Investing in yourself is the most important investment you’ll ever make in your life. . . . There’s no financial investment that’ll ever match it, because if you develop more skill, more ability, more insight, more capacity, that’s what’s going to really provide economic freedom. . . . It’s those skill sets that really make that happen,” writes Tim Ferriss, in his book, Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers

Balance of personal experiences with insights from high-performers can change the trajectory of your life. To improve your chances of success in any endeavor, identify what top people do and double up on their input.

Experience teaches many lessons. “Every moment is an opportunity to grow. And the more moments you string together, the faster you learn, the more you grow, and better you become at everything you do,” says Nicolas Cole.

If you want to learn a new skill, habit or want to achieve something that is slightly out of your grasp, you have to make time to read and learn from people who have figured out the best principles, ideas and tools you need to move fast and save time. And most importantly, if you let your learning lead to action, you can become wealthy.

Whatever you do, act on what you learn, combine unique experiences, connect ideas better and create your own bespoke blueprint for life.

Success, however you define it, is achievable if you collect and act on the right principles and habits. Keep learning. Take action. Make mistakes. Keep succeeding.

Values that bring so many people so much meaning in life

How you spend your time is how you spend your life.

How your time can easily give away the things you value most in life. William Penn was right when he said, “Time is what we want most, but what we spend worst.”

Time is today’s most important currency. Build a better relationship with time and you can become successful in almost all areas of life.

Time used wisely can help you make money, build better relationships, and enjoy meaningful and memorable life experiences. How you manage your time will decide what you achieve in life.

Unlike money, time cannot be multiplied, borrowed, or recovered after you lose it. With that in mind, billions of people choose to spend their time on things that mean everything to them. Or on activities and experiences that allow them to enjoy life to the fullest.

Happiness is an inside job. You alone can define what makes you happy. The good news is, when you are happy, you can make others happy.

It’s only when you are happy from within that you can completely enjoy the experiences and events you share with your loved ones and the people close to you. Billions of people around the world prioritize these three things to fully enjoy life.

The quest for meaning is an innate human need.

And what we do for work is one of the principal environment for fulfilling that need. Think about it. We spend a lot of time working. Almost eight hours a day, for at least 40 weeks every year, for 40 years or so. That’s a lot of time in your lifetime — quite a large proportion of our lives.

Work that uses your talents and skills to your maximum potential can allow you to fully express yourself and offer the rare opportunity to make a purposeful contribution while connecting with others.

“New research on the meaning of work shows that more than 9 out of 10 employees are willing to trade a percentage of their lifetime earnings for greater meaning at work,” according to HBR.

Meaningful work can be any kind of work; if it’s fulfilling your potential, and makes you lose yourself, you’ve found exactly what you need to live the life you want.

Ryan Robinson of Buffer says, “If your work is something you love, it will give clarity, drive, and happiness to all aspects of your life. If your work is meaningful, you’ll be more likely to stick with it in the long run, which means you’re more likely to be successful as a result.”

Finding meaning in one’s work increases motivation, engagement, empowerment, career development, job satisfaction, individual performance and personal fulfillment, according to research.

It can be anything from creating something new, improving an existing product or service, building something awesome, helping others, inspiring others, teaching others, setting in motion something that will make the world a better place, making something beautiful, creating something useful, moving the hearts of others.

Heaps of research suggest that social connections make people happier. Satisfying relationships not only make people happy, but they also associated with better health and even longer life.

Humans are ultra-social species. It’s our nature, and we can’t live our lives without interactions. Ultimately, other people play a crucial role in our happiness.

Everyone is always trying to feel better and happy, regardless of what mood they are in. “When we feel bad, the goal is just to feel good again. But when we feel happy, we’re more likely to sacrifice some of the comforts of old, worn-in relationships in order to achieve longer-term goals, like networking or making new friends,” writes Olga Khazan, a staff writer at The Atlantic.

Relationships can encourage good behaviors that are good for us, which improves our mood, and overall well being. So it makes sense that studies show having fewer social ties is associated with health problems.

The people you choose to surround yourself with have a bigger impact on your happiness and total well-being than you think.

Many people value freedom so much because it gives them the opportunity to pursue things that mean a lot to them without unnecessary external restrictions.

Freedom can lead to enhanced expressions of creativity and original thought increased productivity and overall high quality of life.

The freedom to be who you truly change everything. Freedom to think for yourself. Freedom over your time and what you can do with it. And the freedom to express yourself or invest in something meaningful to you.

Napoleon Hill once said, “Remember that your real wealth can be measured not by what you have, but by what you are.”

Real wealth is the abundance of time and freedom to be who you are or want to be — it gives you the freedom to be yourself, to make an impact in someone’s life and the opportunity to make a change that matters to you.

Real wealth is, “not having to go to meetings, not having to spend time with jerks, not being locked into status games, not feeling like you have to say “yes”, not worrying about others claiming your time and energy,” argues James Clear.

To find out values that can make life meaningful and fulfilling for you, dig deep into your past experiences

Some of the most powerful insights about what we want or what makes us come alive come from inside ourselves.

Don’t underestimate the power of looking back for answers that can help you live your best life today and tomorrow.

People succeed, thrive and enjoy life by getting curious about who they really are and doing what they value most in life. Reflect on your past experiences with questions like: What are my top 3 peak experiences in life? How, if at all, are they linked? What do they have in common?

What types of environments inspire my best work or feelings of satisfaction? What, if I had my choice, would I never do again if I didn’t have to? What kind of professional and personal breakthroughs do I want to experience? If money weren’t a problem, what would I spend my time doing?

The patterns that emerge can help you build a list of things you value in life. Your core values can help you align your actions for the rest of your life with what makes you come alive and create a life based on what makes you happy. You can change your life immeasurably once you realize that time is your most valued resource.

For a happy life, choose to value meaningful work, deeper relationships and the freedom to fully express yourself and be who you truly are. And as Paulo Coelho put it so eloquently…

Do it now!