Knowledge has no value except that which can be gained from its application toward some worthy end – Napolean Hill 

How’s that for a title?  Does that not just fly in the face of every single thing you’ve been taught your whole life?  Wow, without sounding down-right defeatist that’s a giant slap in the face!  That’s got a sting to it, but I said it and I stand by it!   

Take the education system today.  We have an entire industry built upon the premise of providing knowledge to young minds.  Student loan debt out paces credit card debt by an enormous amount in pursuit of said knowledge, but in the end, what is the net benefit?  Last I checked, 30% of college graduates end up working in a profession outside their field of study!!  Now please, I’m not inviting an open debate on the struggles of millennials, I’m not criticizing common core nor am I validating or invalidating the concerns over the education system but let’s talk a little bit about this whole idea of “knowledge is power.”  I believe Sir Francis Bacon only got it half right and apparently I’m not the only one. 

Now I’m gonna date myself a bit and that’s ok with me.  I didn’t have a lot growing up.  In fact I was poor, but I distinctly remember waking up each morning and meeting up at my best friends house to walk to school together.  Every single morning we would watch the same show.  You see, back in my day, cartoons only came on in the mornings and every weekend on Saturdays (oh the nostalgia).  I digress, a cartoon by the name of GI Joe was always on before we left.  For those that don’t know GI Joe was a cartoon about an elite group of para-military members that ran around the world saving the day:  “a Real American Hero!”  Every episode would end with a sort of public service announcement to teach us kids life lessons (eat an apple instead of a candy bar, don’t bully kids, respect and help your elders).  These segments always concluded with the tagline “Now you know, and knowing is Half the Battle!”  Man, those were the good old days!  What I didn’t understand was how profound that tagline was.

 It seems pretty self-explanatory when you think about it.  Knowing something and doing something are two completely separate things.  However, they are symbiotic.  You can’t be effective if you don’t harness both.  Knowing that eating fast food every day or smoking a pack a day is killing you means jack shit if you don’t change (action).  On the flipside, shooting a basketball or throwing a dart is meaningless if you don’t know where the goal or the board is.  The two concepts are the Yin and the Yang.  Knowledge must be coupled with Action and Action must be directed by Knowledge for you to achieve anything.  This is why I’m constantly talking about discovering your why (knowledge) so that you can create your goals (actions) and become what you want to become (power).  Knowledge truly is only half of the equation; “half the battle” if you will.  Those GI Joe’s were wise beyond measure.  I encourage you to go out there and discover how to be a better you, and once you discover how, act upon it!  Take your POWER back!  KNOW it, DO it, ACHIEVE it!

know