Would you rather be wise or knowledgeable?

Despite often being used interchangeably, wisdom and knowledge are two very different things.

For example, you can have all the business knowledge in the world but it does you little good if you don’t know how to apply it to make profit.

As British journalist, Miles Kington, famously said…

“Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.”

That’s a perfect example.

Knowing a lot of facts might make you good a contestant on a quiz show, but you need wisdom to be able to turn knowledge into something useful.

This is crucial for anyone working in business because the Internet is filled with an endless amount of information, and if we’re not careful we can end up filling our heads with stuff and forgetting the most important part…

Using it to grow our sales and increase the success of our business.

Greek philosopher, Plutarch*, said that “the mind is not a vessel that needs filling, but wood that needs igniting”.

I invite you to think for a moment about what that means.

The online world seems to have been designed to fill our minds as quickly and efficiently as possible. And there is so much content out there now that we’re consuming it in ever smaller chunks of social media soundbites and short-form videos.

But if all we do is absorb ever-increasing quantities of information, without taking the time to think about what it means and how we can use it wisely…

We’re only ever filling the vessel.

On the other hand, if we take the time to think deeply about what we learn and actively plan to put it into practice, we’re doing something very different.

We are, as Plutarch implied, igniting our minds and our impulse to think independently and get to the truth of the matter.

That’s what I want for us.

I invite you to turn the knowledge you’re obtaining into genuine wisdom that will light a fire under your business.

This is especially important as we consider the teachings of Dr Cialdini.

Dr Cialdini is a master at making the complex easy to understand. And because his stories and writings are, unlike many works of non-fiction, enjoyable and fun to read, we can fill our minds with his strategies very easily.

Nearly everyone in business these days has heard of his “influence” strategies and most can even relate some of his most famous experiments.

But doesn’t mean that they’re willing or able to put his methods into practice and refine their selling techniques.

So, right now, I’d like you to make a commitment to yourself that, as we dig deeper into Dr Cialdini’s teachings over the coming weeks and months, you’ll carve out some time to actually apply what you’re uncovering.

This is going to take conscious effort.

We’ve all become masters at quickly scanning over new content, absorbing the main points, and then moving onto something else.

But that would be a waste.

After each discussion we share, please take a moment to physically write down those main points and then, underneath, jot down some ideas as to how you might apply the ideas on your next sales call or negotiation.

Actively applying what we’ve learned, soon after you’ve learned it, is a sure way to test its effectiveness and then ensure that it sticks.

That’s what we’re shooting for.

New business and sales strategies…

• That you can apply straight away
• That become a permanent part of your skillset
• That increase your sales and business success

Our next discussion is going to be on the power of persuasion. For this we’re going to look at a famously complicated 1980s court case between two business giants that was ultimately lost because one of them forgot the most basic truth about human nature.

It’s a story I’m hoping will ignite your mind to the possibilities before you!?

Wishing you health, wealth and a joyful life,

Swadeck Taher

*Not Socrates, as many mistakenly believe – https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/28/mind-fire/