Knowing Is Not Enough; We Must Apply
by Brian Johnson
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” ~ Bruce Lee from Striking Thoughts
This is a HUGE theme of all these Notes and Optimal Living 101.
Knowing something is nice, but it means NOTHING if we don’t actually apply it to our lives. As we often say, THEORY (or knowing something) is RUDIMENTARY philosophy. PRACTICE (or actually living a truth) is the advanced stuff.
Are you spending all your time in theory—simply talking about all the stuff you believe to be true? Or, are you focused on LIVING it?
Vernon Howard puts it brilliantly in The Power of Your Supermind: “You see, knowing the words is not the same thing as living the meaning. Suppose I memorize the printed instructions on a first-aid kit. Does that mean I can give first aid? No. The full meaning comes when I admit I know nothing and then try, practice, succeed.”
Let’s take another moment for reflection.
What’s the #1 thing you KNOW would be great for you to do but you just haven’t gotten yourself to make an essential part of who you are?
* Insert Jeopardy music *
“Upon reflection, it’s clear to me that, although I *know* this is important and would have huge positive benefits in my life, I haven’t yet made this knowledge an essential part of my day- to-day living:
I hereby commit to rockin’ it. Amen.”
If you do nothing
Nothing will be done.
Sounds like we should know this,
right?
It’s just fascinating for me to see
this in practice,
the result of a decision to create a newsletter,
then to commit to creating that publication for one full year.
Now, 6 full years later,
as I end that project,
to make way for new projects,
there are over 135 issues
on a website devoted to that good thing.
2 years ago
I decided to begin a daily poetry and quotes blog,
(hello reader :))
I now have around 800 blog posts
chock-full of good stuff.
Last December, I committed to a poem a day.
11 months later,
I have almost 600 poems written.
It’s crazy cool!
And it has been a huge lesson to me,
Dreams and Ideas are great,
but only the commitment, focus
and actually acting on the idea,
will call it forth into the world. 
All those words, ideas and poems would still be inside me somewhere,
if I had not said, yes,
to DOING it –
every damn day.
Nothing gets done without the work.
Intention and action go together
then the magic happens.
Doing the work is essential,
in order to build the house,
in order to change the world.
10/07/13
life: acoustic & amplified 