5-Wisdom: Why It’s Critical for Your Success

It’s simple. Happiness and success come from high-trust, covenant relationships. We know that from our previous blogs-podcasts.

So, what is the best way to develop good relationships?

Just do three things:

Seek Wisdom
Practice Love
Get Results

The more people trust your wisdom, that you love them, and that you get things done, the stronger your relationships.

In this episode, we’re going to focus on wisdom and why its critical to your success.

SEEK WISDOM

Wisdom is the knowledge you need to be good at something—whether that is painting a house, raising a family or leading a business.

In the broadest sense, wisdom is the knowledge you need to live a good, successful and happy life.

Wisdom includes common sense, and the ability to make good judgments and carry out good actions.

Wisdom is much more than academic knowledge. Wisdom is the knowledge you get learning the truth about something combined with the knowledge you get through the experience of practicing those truths.

For example, think about driving a car. In your driver’s ed class, they gave you academic knowledge about driving. They taught you the truth that if you turn the wheel right, the car will go to the right. And the truth that pressing the brake will slow the car. And the truths about having the right-of-way.

But that academic knowledge itself doesn’t make you good at driving a car. You only get good at driving a car through the experience of practicing those truths while driving a car.

You know a truth: Press the brake to slow down. You only become good at braking by practicing that knowledge/truth over and over until you get good at judging when to brake and how hard to brake.

You practice the knowledge of braking until it becomes a habit. Part of your character. The more you practice, the more you learn about (the truth) of braking and the better you get.

That makes wisdom a self-reinforcing cycle. You know a truth. You practice that truth repeatedly until it becomes a habit ingrained in your character. The experience of practicing the truth repeatedly brings you a deeper knowledge—wisdom—that only comes through that experience. That newly learned wisdom becomes the baseline for your next cycle.

That is why wisdom only comes with experience.

It is why experience—whether its raising kids, coaching a team or starting a business—is so important for success.

It is why wisdom is the combination of your knowledge (of the truth) and your character (developed by the experience of repeatedly practicing that truth).

We can put it in an easy formula:

Wisdom = Knowledge + Character.
KNOWLEDGE
The knowledge component of wisdom is straightforward.

At work, do you know the truth—the facts—about your expertise? If you are in marketing, do you have professional marketing knowledge? If you are in surgeon, how is your surgical knowledge? If you are an auto mechanic, do you know how to fix cars?

If you are a supervisor, you need additional knowledge in leadership and management.

On the leadership side, you need to know how to communicate goals, context and meaning to your people. You need to know how to inspire, motivate and encourage your people. Do you make good decisions under pressure? If you are senior leadership, you need to know how to think strategically and lead a team of teams.

On the management side, you need to know how to optimize tasks, budgets, and resources to achieve goals.

At home with your family, you need the knowledge to be a good spouse and parent.

In the community, you need knowledge about how to be a good friend and citizen.

With knowledge of these things, you can practice them until they become habits and part of your character. Wisdom is the knowledge you get in that applied experience.
CHARACTER
Your character is who you are. It is the sum of your qualities, virtues, and vices.

Virtues are the good things in your character, like courage,