Wednesday, March 4, 2009

The Cost of Wisdom

Proverbs 4:7
Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom.
Though it cost all you have, get understanding.

A mentor of mine used to say that the best lessons in life, are usually learned the hard way – we have to lose money, date the wrong person, buy the wrong item, etc., etc. to truly understand when, how and where to make the right decisions. For some reason, we usually have to undergo some tangible expression of pain or failure that allows us to have our “Ah Ha!” moment where we realize that this probably is a road we just should choose not to travel again. However, many of us pay a higher price for wisdom than we necessarily have to. We’ve all been there . . .

“I don’t know how I ended up in this situation again!”
“I’m tired of being (insert yours here)!”
“I keep dating the wrong guys.”

David Ramsey, a personal finance guru, says that personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. This sounds pretty deep, but if we applied it across the board, I’m not sure that it would make enough sense out of other life areas. I believe that:

Personal finance (or any other subject’s) success comes from 80% discipline and 20% knowledge of the subject matter.

Basically, once we’ve got some insight into an area – any area, especially when it comes from our specific experiences, a shift in our behavior is really all it takes to bring about a change in our results. The success will come from making disciplined decisions based on what we already know due to some outcome we’ve already experienced in the past. You don’t have to be an expert in any area to make better decisions. You just have to be willing to use what you already know to your advantage and be consistent in it!

What price are you paying right now for doing something you know you had no business doing? I’m not talking about decisions based on what you heard, saw or read about, but based on what you’ve already experienced for yourself.

 
Let’s take a stand today to use what we know right now, to make better decisions today. Although wisdom may cost a price, it doesn’t have to break the bank!

Seek Wisdom, Find Wealth & Be Blessed

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great post!

I've always been a firm believer that you learn much more from your mistakes than your successes.

When you make mistakes, you have to face the consequences of your actions, and it motivates you to avoid being in that position ever again.

Anonymous said...

I know something I could have done differently just today. Good advise.