Every now and then I run into someone who claims they’ve been following the same principles I maintain are essential to living a life of self-fulfillment.

Yet this person is not  happy and fulfilled.

In a conversation this individual can pontificate with a broad understanding of how “things work” - drawing similar conclusions about the way the laws of success and principles work together that I may have.

But their personal life is painfully lacking the application of what they claim to know.

How is this possible?

There is a substantial difference between managing data - which is the intellectual ability to draw comparisons between similar ideas and remember facts - and actually having the real understanding of information which translates into “knowingness”.

Knowingness is to realize something - which transforms that knowledge into an integrated part of your consciousness. When you realize something it becomes a part of you.

When you only know something it’s just so much data you happen to be managing.

That’s why the world is full of people with credentials  - degrees and titles - that are little more than encyclopedias of information - without the ability to apply that information to anything more than a conversation.  They appear bright but quickly dim as you realize they really don’t understand the ramifications of  what they’re talking about.

When you truly realize something you absorb it holistically. 

The realization ignites a personal epiphany which causes a change in your perception of yourself and your life.  The epiphany is a recalculation of your attitudes, opinions and beliefs which takes place in a literal burst of light - which you perceive as “clarity”.

Managing and organizing data through the intellect never provides clarity.

Your personal computer can do a wonderful job of organizing the data you put into it - but is incapable of actually applying that data to the solution of a particular problem.

Stop telling yourself you “know something” when in fact you may only be manipulating the facts as so much data you’re carrying around inside your head.  If and when you really “know something” it will be fully reflected in your day-to-day life.

-Bob Baran