Wooden's Wisdom | Leadership Resource Center

Issue 674 - "The Difference Between Knowing and Just Knowing About Something" (Wayne Dyer and John Wooden)


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 13	Issue 674
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"THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWING AND JUST KNOWING ABOUT SOMETHING" (WAYNE DYER AND JOHN WOODEN) John Wooden Video Clip (46 sec.): Coach Wooden is asked: "What is the most important thing your father taught you?" Over 2400 years ago the spiritual leader Buddha (563 B.C-483 B.C.) cautioned his followers about believing misinformation this way: "Do not believe what you have heard. Do not believe in tradition because it is handed down many generations. Do not believe in anything that has been spoken of many times. Do not believe because the written statements come from some old sage. Do not believe in conjecture. Do not believe in authority or teachers or elders. But after careful observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and it will benefit one and all, then accept it and live by it." "Knowing about" is just hearing something. "Knowing" comes from direct experience. After hearing something, rather than believing it or repeating it, we should teach young people to ask: "How do you know that?" Consider the "Meatloaf Story": "A mother is making meatloaf with her teenage daughter; a ritual they’ve been doing together for years. As part of the tradition, the two chefs cut the ends of each side of the meatloaf before putting it in the oven. One day, the teen asks, "Mom, why do we cut the ends off the meatloaf before we put it in the oven?" Taken by surprise, the mom began to think. She had no good reason, other than that’s how her own mother did it and that was the way she learned. Together, the two called up grandma. "Grandma, why do we cut the ends off each side of the meatloaf before putting it in the oven?" After a brief laugh, the grandmother admitted that she didn’t know the answer either. It was the way her own mother taught her. Tradition. It turns out her mother was living in a nearby nursing home, so they all went to visit. Upon hearing the question, the 98-year-old great grandmother roared with laughter. "I have no idea why you are cutting the ends off the meatloaf! I used to do it only because I didn’t have a big enough pan!" Are you trimming any meatloaves? Click here for personal development exercise: Issue 674. Click here for Printable Poetry: Issue 674. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Follow @woodenswisdom	COACH'S FAVORITE POETRY AND PROSE Lost Opportunities 'When I am rich,' he used to say, 'A thousand joys I'll give away; I'll walk among the poor I find And unto one and all be kind. I'll place a wreath of roses red Upon the bier of all my dead; I'll help the struggling youth to climb; In doing good I'll spend my time; To all in need I'll friendly be The day that fortune smiles on me.' He never guessed that being kind Depends upon the heart and mind And not upon the purse at all; That poor men's gifts, however small, Make light some weary traveler's load And smooth for him his troubled road. He never knew or understood The fellowship of doing good. Because he had not much to spare He thought it vain to give his share. Yet many passed him, day by day, He might have helped along the way. He fancied kindness something which Belongs entirely to the rich. And so he lived and toiled for gold, Unsympathetic, harsh and cold, Intending all the time to share The burdens that his brothers bear When he possessed great wealth, and he Could well afford a friend to be. His fortune came, but, oh, too late; The poor about him could not wait. They never guessed and never knew The things that he had meant to do. Few knew how much he'd planned to give If God had only let him live. And when at last his form was cold, All that he'd left on earth was gold. A kindly name is something which A man must earn before he's rich. Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)
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