Proverbs to Live By: Inspiration for Your Week (Feb 29)

“Through wisdom is a house built; and by understanding it is established.
By knowledge every room shall be filled with precious and pleasant riches.”

Wisdom. How do you acquire it? What experiences do you have to go through to increase it? How do you lead a wisdom-based life?

Wisdom is about understanding the connectedness of life. It is about knowing how your decisions today, in this very moment, will impact your life from this point moving forward. It is about discernment and intentionally surrounding yourself with people of wisdom.

As a leadership and management consultant for over a decade, I’ve seen wisdom play out in my clients lives in a variety of ways. For some, it has come from taking on roles of increased scale, scope, and responsibility. They learn valuable work, and life lessons, from expanding their sphere of influence. For others, I have seen wisdom come in the form of dealing with challenging and difficult circumstances; some of which were self-induced and others that were thrust upon them.

Here’s how you can make sure you grow in wisdom:

  1. Learn from Experience: Everything happens for a reason. Be open and cognizant of the events that take place in your life. By focusing on what you can learn from every experience, both good and bad, you can grow and strengthen your wisdom. Pay particular attention to negative or bad experiences. These are often opportunities for the biggest learning and growth.
  2. Surround Yourself with Wise People: In life, we meet two types of people, those that will help move us forward, and those that will take us backwards. Surround yourself with people who are moving in the direction that you want to move. Also, make sure to look for people who have succeeded in the areas that you want to improve in. For example, if you want to improve your management of finances, look for experts in that area. Likewise, if you want to improve your strategic capabilities, look for strong problem solvers and long-term critical thinkers. Remember, “the person who walks with wise people will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer greatly.”
  3. Become a Lifelong Learner: Acquiring wisdom takes time and life experience. It does not happen overnight. Stay open to having a strong learning orientation throughout your career. Learning doesn’t end when we finish school. It doesn’t end when we get the promotion that we always wanted. Keep the focus on learning from each and every experience that crosses your path.

Remember, wisdom is better than the most precious diamonds and rubies; all the things that we desire do not compare to the value it brings into our lives.