Knowledge is not Power, It is only potential Power

Knowledge is Not Power

“Knowledge is not power, it is only potential power”, said Tony Robbins.

You may know a lot of things, you may know a lot of practical skills and you may have studied many subjects. But all this knowledge is of little to no value if you are not applying any of it – it does not empower you if you don’t act on it.

To learn something and to do something with it are two totally different things. If you want to gain power (in any situation) you have to apply what you know. For example, you might know what to say to make a person smile. You know that complimenting people triggers positive responses. This is common sense! .. but how often do you actually give a compliment?

The situation remains the same until you decide to give that compliment and then actually give it. Doing it is what will set a whole new interaction in motion. A new situation starts.

It is very likely that the person you just complimented will start to smile and say “thank you”. A conversation might start. This would not have happened if you hadn’t given the compliment. The situation would have stayed the same.

Do you grasp the context I’m trying to make here?

You know something – giving compliments makes people smile.
You do what you know – “Hey. Nice face!”
The situation changes – smile + thank you.
Results you did not have before.

Become a Doer

This might be a simple example, but it is a good one. The point is to become a doer. Don’t just let the things you know die inside your head. Give them life by putting them into action. This is closely related to my previous article about habits because habits are the things you do because you know what will happen when you do them. Does that make sense?

One of the habits that I have had for many years now is to have a big, solid breakfast to start my day with. It is important to me because it makes me feel strong. And I know that when I miss breakfast for whatever reason, that my day just seems incomplete.. and I’ll be hungry. That’s why I do it.

Another self-taught habit of mine is to never-ever hit the snooze button again. When my alarm goes, I rise immediately. In fact, I usually don’t have my alarm in the bedroom so that I have to get out to kill the noise. But it is because I know that if I hit snooze and fall back asleep, it’s going to be even harder to get out and start – and I feel more tired if I don’t. That’s why I do it.

This makes sense, right? Now, there are many things I learned over the years and I know that certain things can actually improve the quality of my life. If I apply them. But still, I don’t put my knowledge into practice.

For example, I have read a lot of things about affirmations. Affirmations are simple, positive sentences you tell yourself that, over time, influence your subconscious and increase your confidence with an enormous amount. I know this works because many successful people apply this and talk about it.

Why Not?

I don’t use affirmations although I know I should because it can help me get over some of my obstacles. There might be other ways to get over those obstacles, but I know that using affirmations is one of the ways. It is an easy and very powerful way, so why don’t I ?! When such a small change can make such a big difference it seems so stupid to not do it.

It often has to do with our priorities. If it isn’t important enough to us, we have a tendency to stay in our comfort zones. It also has to do with our conditioning, this causes us to build a comfort zone in the first place and then do whatever we have to, to stay there. Conditioning is nothing more than a multitude of habits. I think that nobody is actually comfortable in their comfort zones but they are just uncomfortable with trying to get out.

My Comfort Zone

To give you another example, I will describe to you what my comfort zone looked like about 5 years ago and what I did to change it.

When I was 21 years old, I was already living in my own student apartment for two years. I didn’t know anyone but my neighbors because all my classmates lived outside of the city and I didn’t really go out. After school, I would play my Xbox and eat and drink ‘easy food’, you know, food that takes little to no effort to prepare. And I would play my Xbox until 2 o’clock in the night, go to bed, be late for school and do the same thing over and over again.

Sometimes I would spend the time in my apartment with my classmates, drinking beer and smoking weed. We would watch movies or play my Xbox together. Education didn’t have priority because it was more important to me to get a 100% completion in Assassin’s Creed and to have fun with my friends sometimes.

This was my life – day in and day out. I didn’t have any ambition and no motivation to get off my ass, I was ‘comfortable’. Even though I knew that it wasn’t the way I wanted to live, I didn’t do anything to change it.. until I came to a point where I said ENOUGH. I am going to do something with my life.

The first thing I did was selling my Xbox and my TV. They were only a distraction for me. Then I got a subscription to a gym and went there three days per week. I started eating healthier and reading about the things that I thought were interesting – Fitness, Nutrition, Self-Development, etc. A strong desire for making new friends developed and I started going out, I met new people and made strong connections.

The results from changing my lifestyle were so satisfying. From that point on I knew that I had to persist in this new lifestyle and so I did. It wasn’t easy, and I still struggle with priorities every now and then, but my focus has changed. I built a new comfort zone and now it is much bigger because I experienced a lot. Although I gave up on the nightlife, I still have a desire to make connections with people.

There are still things that I know I should do, but I don’t. Reading, I really want to read more. Eating healthier; although this has really improved, I still flaw in this area. It probably wouldn’t be a bad idea to start with a simple affirmation on an area I want to improve as well.

Make a Change

So this is what I want to ask you. Are you living your life or are you rushing through life? Do you get consumed by circumstances, opinions from others, and materialism? Are you satisfied with your social life? Are you getting the results you want? Do you want to get more comfortable in a certain area?

Make a change! A big one if you can, but if you can’t start small. Think about your conditioning. I knew what was in between my results and my desires – at age 21 it was my Xbox. The choice I made was pretty radical but that is what works for me. Do you recognize yourself in this story? Is your comfort zone not satisfying? Guess what – all that you desire lies outside of your comfort zone, not inside of it.

So how do you start? If you have to sell your Xbox as I did, do it! Don’t wait any longer. If you want to change your body, get a subscription to the gym and get your ass over there. Ask for help; get someone to go with you. The questions I ask you in this article can motivate you to start. What is it that you know you should do, but for whatever reason, you don’t do it? Go and start to do it.

Remember that the things you know are of no value when you are not applying them. Empower yourself by start DOING and I promise you this. Your results will change! Don’t make any excuses for why you can’t start, because the only one you are fooling is yourself (and your results).

Until next time.