So...What's Next?!?

The Price of Knowledge,The Value of Wisdom

Honestly if I was stopped in the street and asked what is the difference between knowledge and wisdom, I would be stumped for a few moments. I think my answer would be;

Knowledge is based on things you have learned, either through instruction, experience, reading a book, or observation of others.

Wisdom is knowing how to live your life based on the vast amounts of knowledge that has been acquired. 

So, I have been looking over some financials recently and I would guestimate that I spend at least $15K a year on learning what not to do. This would be what my poor decisions and mistakes have cost me, not calculating opportunity lost. 

Alright, let's put that in perspective. A good formal education would cost at least that much and all you get is instruction. What I received was pain, regret, a few kicks in the ass, and enough deterrent, in some cases, not to make the same mistakes again. I have gained a little bit of wisdom...at a very bargain price.

I have been reflecting on the past 4 years, where I was before I started this company, where I am now and where I want to go. The value of what I have learned over the past 4 years is truly priceless. But the ROI of what it has cost me, both in money, time, and stress, can only be realized if I apply what I have learned to the way I live my life; If I can turn my knowledge into wisdom.

One thing I have learned is the importance of looking past the monetary value of a proposition and looking at the holistic experience of being involved in a project. I have witnessed the constipation of success due to a blockage caused by monetary stress (nice visual huh?)

I have seen people not give their all because they did not feel they were being compensated for the value of their all, and the end result is they harmed their own reputation and were never offered the next prize because no one knew what they were capable of. I have seen people stress about money to the point they are blind to the fact that the opportunity in front of them is the experience that will enhance or expand their skill set and make them that much more valuable.

I am amazed  that people are willing to pay private schools and universities an enormous amount of money for knowledge, but will not take risks and push themselves to gain the experiences that will lead to wisdom.

Nothing Changes Until You Do

and are you willing to work for it?

These are two ideas that keep coming to my mind.

I have been thinking about the need for change. The need for change in our schools and the need for change of how we expect to be taken care of. I have been thinking a lot about how as we move from the "industrial age" to the "digital age" one of the major side effects is that we are moving from a world where our employers and unions took care of us to a more individualized world; where we get to make individual decisions, but at the same time we are going to also be required to take care of ourselves.

This does not mean everyone becomes an independent contractor, though I believe more and more people will be.

This means that if you want to keep your job you have to take responsibility to make sure that the company stays in business, and that you personally keep your skills up to date.

I don't think people in our society really understand this.

For so long children were mandated to go to school, it was not their choice, there really was not freewill. For some kids this is even true about college. They were just shuffled through the system. When they joined the workforce their employers shuffled them through more training programs, programs that told them how to do their job.

But over the decades there has been a series of rebellion to this way of life. People want freedom of expression, they want to explore who they are and what they want to contribute to society. They do not want to be constrained to the dull life of a factory worker. Over the decades there have been cries for freedom!

And slowly but surely freedom is what we are gaining. We are free to express ourselves, and we are free to take care of ourselves. The technologies are available for us to learn what we want to learn at the pace we want to learn it, but are we learning how to use those technologies? There are opportunities to start new businesses no matter how large your chosen market is or even where the market is located, but are we willing to do what it takes to be a business owner?

Even those who prefer to work for a company but plea for more freedom within their choice of employment, I wonder, are they ready for the responsibilities of more freedom?

Check out this article about the stupid things people say on Twitter about their jobs such as;

 

Are they ready for the responsibility of freedom?

Our schools are not going to change as fast as we want them to and our employers are not going to change in the ways we want them to, not when they have to meet the needs and demands of such a diverse group of people. If we want to see change, we need to see it in ourselves but most importantly we have to be prepared to take on the responsibility of what that change will mean, which I promise you, it will mean more work. Possibly more rewarding and more creative work, but overall - more work.