Wisdom makes everything better. We overcome challenges with less hassle, accomplish more and enjoy richer relationships with it. Subsequently, without wisdom, we make bad decisions that cost us stress, time, money, relationships and wasted opportunities. For me, I continually strive to increase it in my life.
Here are four ways to acquire more wisdom.
1. Ask God for wisdom.
God hears this prayer from me more than any other. For instance, He often hears something like: “Dear Lord, if there’s one thing I know, it’s that I lack wisdom. Please give it to me. Please GRANT it to me. And, I not only want it. I NEED IT to do what I believe you want me to do.”
And, that’s it. I ask. God tells us if we don’t have it, just ask for it.:
Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him.
Christian Standard Bible James 1:5 (CSB)
Notice the only criterion for getting wisdom is to lack it. And, the only thing you need to do to get it is to ask for it. So, I do. A lot.
So, why not ask right now?
2. Gather wisdom from others.
Sessions with Leaders
Regularly find people who know more than you do about a given subject. And, once you find them, invite them to breakfast or lunch and ask them questions. This happened yesterday with Rick Alvis, the CEO of Wheeler Mission in Indianapolis. He leads an incredible ministry that went from one location when he started to ten locations, their impact increased exponentially, and over 30,000 volunteers now serve. Mind-blowing. I soaked in everything he said, as did the two people with me. Then, we debriefed on the two and a half hour trip back. Even today, my head and heart swirl, connecting what he said with what I am doing and what I could be doing. And, this happened because I asked him and he was gracious to help us.
Coaching
Terry Walling has been coaching me for twelve years. He first did my LifePlan (which I now do for others) and continues to blaze a trail I desire to follow. Even to this day, his coaching pays dividends in my leadership and life.
Seminars & Conferences
I ran my first 10K about three weeks ago. That 6.2 miles marked the farthest distance I have ever run. That happened because of the influence of Michael Hyatt and his Business Accelerator program. Additionally, I work fewer hours and produce more kingdom impact than any time in my 30 years of leadership. Also, I take more vacations and am in the best cardio shape of my life. In brief, I enjoy life more. My life wouldn’t be where it is without his Best Year Ever, podcasts and all the great insights he shares so willingly.
Books, Podcasts and Blogs
Great insights come from a variety of sources. For example, the book “Never Split the Difference” surprised me. Who knew an FBI agent teaches great listening skills? Likewise, “The Million Dollar Launch” was a great recommendation in understanding how to best serve people. And, Audible has grown to be a close friend. (From what I hear it’s totally legal to count listening as reading in your annual book count). Additionally, numerous podcasts and blogs, no one too often, also grow wisdom.
3. Ratchet up your discretion by 3 levels.
Or 4. Maybe 8. Pick a number. The idea is to see the world from the level where you want to be, rather than the perspective you now possess. Here’s a question you can use:
What would a great leader do in this situation?
This takes “you” out of your current level. It puts you on those next levels. And, when you see from those levels, you better see how to get there. On the other hand, if I’m just looking from my current context, I don’t clearly see the path to the higher, more impactful levels.
“If I were to increase my leadership by 3 levels, what would I do in this situation?”
Rich Halcombe
Then, I move forward seeing the current challenge through that lens.
4. Embrace pain.
I know this sounds crazy. Stick with me here.
Let’s take another look at that James 1:5 passage about wisdom (above) follows verse 2: “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials.” So, wisdom won’t come if you misperceive pain.
Don’t just tolerate pain, but consider it a great joy. Embrace it.
If you think that sounds crazy, think about how crazy some things sound now compared to what you used to think. The same things that earlier seemed entirely reasonable then prompt a facepalm now. Here are some “What was I thinking?” examples:
| Then | Now |
| I can borrow all the money I need for school. | If I hadn’t borrowed all that money, then I could be buying income-producing things now. Instead, things are tight financially. |
| If you wait long enough, problems will take care of themselves. | Because I refused to handle conflict, now I have to quit my job because of all the problems I did not address. |
| Things are going well. Why would I change now? | Our church declined to the point that we have to make painful cuts because we didn’t continually improve. |
| Things in high school came easily to me, so I didn’t think I had to try. | Now I find myself at a dead end because I didn’t develop myself. |
| If you want it done right, just do it yourself. | I wonder why my job/ministry stays small and nobody helps me? |
| I’ll spend more than I should for this house now, but I’ll make up the difference as my income increases. | My income never caught up with my spending. Certainly, my pay increased, but so did my overspending. |
| If you do good things, the money will come. | We do good things, but the money didn’t come. In retrospect, we should have focused more on the money. |
| I’ll just write and the world will discover it. | I wrote a whole lot, but nobody reads it because they don’t know about it. |
In short, we can see how each of these will create their own stories. And, most of those stories begin something like, “If I knew then what I know now…”
Imagine where you would be right now if you believed the “Now” statements “Then”? If we possessed more wisdom “then”, our “now” would be better. Consequently, we would have saved an immense amount of pain and wasted effort.
So, for this “now”, let’s project into the future. Your thinking at that next level will necessarily be different than your thinking today. And, it might be just as different as the “Then” and “Now” examples, above.
Particularly for today: Just because it seems reasonable to you now does not mean you should do it.
Because, to operate at the next level, your thinking needs to be at that next level. So, we all believe our current thinking. But, you won’t up your game if you don’t up your wisdom.
Finally, here’s one more “Then” & “Now”:
| Avoid pain because it hurts. | Enjoy pain because I learn to be wiser through it. |
“Think about how good it will feel when it quits hurting.”
my football coach, South Point HS
- Physical pain creates greater dependence upon God.
- Relational pain can spur emotional intelligence.
- People taking advantage of you can make you a better architect, drawing personal property lines in better places.
- Business failure helps you be more shrewd for the next business…and everything else in life.
- Spiritual pain takes you deeper. The Desert Fathers sought isolation so they could deepen their spiritual fortitude.
Reconsidering hurt and loss recalibrates your life. Everybody gets hurt. The wise ones gain prudence from the pain.
Consequently, your current level of understanding is inadequate to take you deeper, to make you wiser. Otherwise, you would already be there.
Bonus Idea:
Finally, why not make the next 12 months the “Year of Wisdom”? Read books about it, read & categorize Proverbs & Ecclesiastes systematically, study strategy and continually ask “Why should I do that?”
What ways have you increased your wisdom?
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