Do You Know What You Know?
“It’s not knowing what to do, it’s doing what you know.” ~Tony Robbins
Knowing. I’ve been sitting with this word for a bit. Wondering what it is that I actually know for sure. There are a few things. For example, I know that when I’m feeling stressed, finding a peaceful space — even if it simply means turning off the radio in the car — always helps. I know how to write, how to speak, and how to coach. I know that I LOVE to write, and to speak, and to coach. I know that playing a game of Jenga with my kids is a whole lot of fun. And I know that very little beats an evening winter’s walk, with the snow falling in huge flakes, followed by a cup of hot chocolate in front of the fireplace. These are some of the things I know for sure.
In Tony Robbins’ quote above, he basically states that knowing what to do is less important than doing what you know. Do you do what you know? My sense is that, what he’s pointing to is the answer to the question that so many hold — what should I do with my life? According to his quote, it’s really not about what you choose to do, it’s about choosing to base your doing in what you know. So, the question comes full circle and asks you to look at what you know. My head could actually spin a little if I sat with this for too long.
When I look at my short list above of “what I know”, and I translate that into a “things to do” list, the bottom-line is this: what I know is that I’m good at certain things, and that I also love doing those things. So those are the things I need to do. Tony Robbins doesn’t say anything about loving what you do; and yet, I assert that in addition to doing what you know, it’s vital to do what you love. Doing what you know is great; doing what you love is great; doing what you know AND love is phenomenal. When you do what you know and love, work is rarely work — it feels more like play. This is the zone in which you can confidently say I love what I do, I do what I love, and I get paid to do it — life is good (or great!).
Bottom-line: if you don’t know the answer yet, take a moment to unearth it. Ask yourself the question, what do I know? Then ask, what do I love of what I know? And finally, I can I do what I know and love? Do that, and your world will transform.
Hmmm…
I wonder if Tony refers to “what you know” as something at a physical level, or a much deeper one. I mean, I know how to hammer out a darn good essay. But I would consider “what I know” to be not only the physical parts of an essay, but that I love the way my soul feels when I write a good piece of work.
Another interesting thing about this concept is that I base my life heavily around trying things that I don’t know how to do. And I quite enjoy it. Perhaps this links to my previous comment in the way that what I know is that I need to be challenged daily, and by trying new things I am doing just that.
A real thinker, miss! Thanks for the brilliance
Love,
A
Great question and perspective Amy! I know for me there’s “brain-knowing” and “heart-knowing” — I don’t know what Tony would say, but for me, heart trumps brain every single time. And heart-knowing equates to that cellular-level knowing of what needs to happen, of what needs to be said, all that stuff. Thanks again for the kudos! And the sharing