Is Knowledge Power?

"Knowledge is power." - Francis Bacon, English philosopher

"Knowledge is that possession that no misfortune can destroy, no authority can revoke, and no enemy can control. This makes knowledge the greatest of all freedoms."

- Bryant H. McGill, American poet

I was brought up to embrace and believe the preceding quotations. My father, often reminded me that he wouldn't be leaving me a huge amount of money. Instead, he would help put me through college, because no one can "take away your education."

That's why when I started reading Larry Winget's book, Shut Up, Stop Whining, and Get a Life, I was a bit taken aback when he started attacking the "myth" that "knowledge is power."

He does have many other "myths" that he lists in this rather confrontational book. In his defense, Winget warns the reader upfront that he will be an irritant and will probably make us angry.

He hasn't made me angry. Actually he has made me think! Maybe it's a "Larry Thing", but a lot of what he writes make sense. His basic premise is that, "What you think about, talk about, and DO something about is what comes about." Start with thoughts translated into beliefs and coupled with action will produce the results we want.

Back to "knowledge." I love amassing it, but, thinking about it, I realize that I can easily be buried and distracted by all of the information available today. I can, and often do, spend valuable time reading blogs, visting websites, listening to podcasts, attending webinars, learning about sales and copywriting, searching for videos, traffic, and on and on. Yes, Winget is right. My fascination with knowledge sometimes takes me away from the actions I should be doing to get where I want to be, because it is spreading me in too many directions.

How about you? Are you so tempted by "knowledge" that it is robbing you of your powerful actions?

Til next time....

One more...

"Knowledge may give weight, but accomplishments give luster,

and many more people see than weigh."

- Lord Chesterfield, British statesman