(That not all smart people do.)
Photo by Cameron Clark
It’s easy to become smart. It’s much more difficult to become wise.
Becoming smart can be achieved through reading books, watching YouTube tutorials, joining masterminds, and taking online courses. Becoming wise is achieved through approaching the experiences life throws your way with an open, curious mind.
Wise people ask better questions.
Wise people know the first answer given is usually not the real answer.
Wise people have experienced seriously hard things and allowed those experiences to refine them.
Wise people know that balance is impossible but margin allows you space to fight for what you love.
Wise people have lost friends and have been stabbed in the back, yet haven’t allowed it to make them bitter.
Wise people know that asking, “Why me?” is the same as asking, “Why not someone else?” and have banned these phrases from their vocabulary.
Wise people know that any and every type of relationship requires nurturing and are willing to put in the work.
Wise people know that the “universe” delivers suffering to good, moral people and to those who are not.
If you look up to someone and consider them wise, know this: they have gone through some s*%t.
Wisdom rarely comes from a simple, uncomplicated life.
Originally published March 2017
Written by
LIENE STEVENS
Trusted by clients in 94 countries, Liene provides business strategy consulting for luxury wedding brands. Her research has been taught in the MBA curriculum at 41 universities, including Notre Dame, the University of Cape Town, and the Universidad Argentina de la Empresa. Named to the prestigious ‘Top 100 Keynote Speakers’ list in 2019, Liene also headlines wedding business conferences worldwide.
