Parent Post
What does it mean
What does it mean to be wise? It has nothing to do with a person’s IQ or degree. A wise person is someone who applies common sense.
It’s about the insights, lessons, and wisdom everyone knows. But not everyone applies what they know.
Here are six habits of wise people.
Learn from your mistakes
Learn from your mistakes
Wise people see mistakes as lessons. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best: “Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.”
We all make bad judgments and mistakes. That’s not what matters. How do you respond after you make a mistake? That’s the key.
The smartest people in the world don’t necessarily make fewer mistakes. They just don’t let their mistakes go to waste.
Rely on facts, not
Rely on facts, not assumptions
Every day, we make countless assumptions and most of our judgments are based on our personal beliefs. The problem is we can’t trust our beliefs simply because they are so subjective.
Instead, rely on facts and avoid interpreting everything based on your ideas, beliefs, and feelings.
Observe your thoughts and ask yourself, “How do I know what I’m thinking is true?” You often find that you either need to ask more questions, do research, or simply wait until you receive feedback.
Take enough time to
Take enough time to make decisions
Making good decisions is not always a product of quickness. In some situations, it pays off to be a quick decision-maker.
We often become quick decision-makers by first becoming slow decision-makers.
Similarly, no good decision-maker can be quick at the beginning of their career. It’s important to take as much time as you can to decide. But no more. Otherwise, we risk procrastinating for no good reason.
Think from first principles
Think from first principles
Thinking from first principles was coined by the Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle.
Some people assume that thinking from first principles means you don’t make assumptions. But it means you go even beyond looking at facts.
Thinking from first principles is a way to challenge the status quo. It’s looking at what is, and thinking what could be, keeping the laws of human nature and physics in mind.
Wise people constantly ask, “Is there a better way we can do this?”
Listen to other people
Listen to other people
The most ignorant people have difficulty listening to advise while the smartest people are usually the first to listen to everyone.
Be extremely aware of how often you’re curious about other people’s opinions and insight. Your experience is that almost no one cares. Most people just love to listen to their own voice and don’t care about what others have to say.
Wise people love to learn from others and are always open to different ideas.
There’s one overarching theme
There’s one overarching theme to all the things wise people do: They make sure they get something positive and useful out of every interaction.
Everything they do feeds on top of everything else they do.
That’s how you create a positive cycle for yourself. That means your life will only get better.
Read a lot and
Read a lot and read widely
Wise people have a very broad set of knowledge, ranging from history to economics to psychology.
Most people’s days consist of work and leisure. At what moment do you nurture your mind?
It’s when you’re intellectually challenged. That doesn’t happen a lot at our work or social interactions or when we’re consuming entertaining content.
The best way to
The best way to challenge yourself on an intellectual level is to acquire knowledge.
Wise people do something that challenges their minds every day. They read a lot. And they read widely because most mental stimuli come from learning about new things.
