You know what you know and you don’t know what you don’t know.

The important difference between the two is the concept of Awareness.

Think of 2 circles, one inside the other. Like this:

The outer circle represents everything there is to know.
The inner circle represents everything that you know.

The perimeter (or edge) of the inner circle represents your AWARENESS of what you don’t know.

Wise people acknowledge that they know very little in comparison to all that there is to know.
So realistically, the circles look more like this:

As you learn, the inner circle grows:

As the inner circle grows, so does your Awareness of that which you do not know.

The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

Those with the greatest wisdom have the deepest understanding of their ignorance. 
They understand the scope of all there still is to know.

The outer circle is very large - Much larger than can be depicted in these diagrams… you get the idea.

Teenagers tend to think they know a lot because their awareness of all that there is to know is very small:

The perimeter of the inner circle – their AWARENESS – is very small.

Now imagine the power of people teaming up and pooling their knowledge.
Collectively working together, all involved are able to attain more knowledge.

Realistically, most people share some knowledge so the circles overlap and they look more like this:

A mother and daughter might look something like this:

There is some knowledge that they share but even the daughter who is younger and less experienced still has some knowledge that the mother does not.  In fact, from the daughters’ perspective, the mom doesn’t possess even half of the knowledge that the daughter does.

Understanding what you know and what you don’t know is a foundation for success.  Be humble and therefore wise; realize that you do not know it all.  Any attempt to increase your knowledge will expand your ignorance.  This is the growth of your Awareness.

Successful people understand these facts and never stop learning.  They are wise and therefore make better decisions.  While embodying constant growth and movement, wisdom leads to contentment and happiness.

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I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from Supergood: A Guide to Living in Pursuit of Your Potential.

There is so much that we don't know.  Begin your journey now.  Learn the Principles of Success.

Now that you are feeling open minded to new ideas, we can jump right into The Power of the Subconscious Mind.

Have a supergood day,
Mike

"You're living on a speck." - Horton, from Horton Hears a Who

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