You have likely heard the quote “Knowledge is power”, commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon. I would like to submit to you an alternative version “Knowledge is only potential power”, from author Napoleon Hill.
Why is knowledge not power? Unless something is done with that knowledge (action taken!) it simply fills your head, a book, a library, Wikipedia or some other resource. It does not do anything.
It is not that knowledge does not serve us; we must make it serve us. How many of you have some type of e-reader? Have you found that you are reading more and finishing more books? That’s a nice feeling. It is something we take pride in and we like to share and talk about what we read.
That is great if you are reading simply for pleasure. Yet if you are reading to learn, to develop a new skill or habit or implement a new process, there must be more than just reading. Clients often ask for book recommendations in our work together and I am happy to provide these. What I know is that these clients are seeking knowledge to better themselves and that this will accelerate our work together. Why? They are making the opportunities to put knowledge to work for them.
Now I’m not suggesting that you need a coach in order to benefit from a business or personal development book. However, working with a coach will multiply your results. If you chose not to, know that you will need to create your own course of study and develop action plans with the book so that the knowledge you gather becomes POWER to you.