When I’m giving a seminar, one of my frequent comments to my audiences is, “Now, as we’re going through this material, if you ever catch yourself saying, ”I know that!“ I want to encourage you to eliminate that thought immediately. Why? Because knowing something intellectually is irrelevant to our discussion today. The only relevant questions are,

1. Am I doing that?
2. If not, why not?
3. And if I am doing it, then how can I maximize this?

Since no one maximizes anything, the thought ‘I know that!’ is irrelevant.”

One of the grave mistakes that I watch so many people make is thinking that if they “know” something intellectually, then they “know it.” But that’s not correct. Until something is part of your experience, you don’t really “know” it.

But more importantly, whenever someone tries telling you something and you say to yourself, “I know that!” what you’re really doing is closing down mentally–and that can have serious consequences.

For example, when your boss says, “I want you to ….” and you start thinking, “I know that!” (especially with the rolling of your eyes) you’ve disengaged. But your boss, like your father :-), isn’t telling you to do something just because they want to fill up air space. When they’re telling you to do something, it’s because they haven’t seen you do it yet.

The way to end the conversation is not by closing down mentally (or verbally) with, “I know that!”, but rather to take action and do the thing they’re asking you to do.

Likewise, if you’re reading a book or listening to a seminar or sermon, and you start saying to yourself, “I know that!”, once again, you’re shutting yourself off to a potential teachable moment. Instead of listening and asking yourself, “Am I doing that?” Or, “How can I maximize this in my life?” Or, “How can I use this to improve what I’m working on?” you’ll cut off all opportunities to learn with one simple three word phrase, “I know that!”

From my perspective, learning is driven by two things;

1. Curiosity and
2. Humility.

When you’re humble enough to learn from anyone and anything; and you’re insatiably curious enough so you start asking lots of questions, then you’ll be a learner. But you won’t be a true learner if it’s simply content retained in your cranium. To learn means “to change behavior.” In other words, until something becomes real in your experience, you haven’t really learned it.

Once you have learned it, you then want to take it to the next level and ask, “How can I maximize this?” And even after that, you’ll frequently need to be reminded of things you “know” (or better “knew). It’s part of the human experience. We all need to be reminded of things we ”know.“

So, may I encourage you to eliminate the phrase, ”I know that!“ from your vocabulary. Instead, make a habit of asking these three questions.

1. Am I doing that?
2. If not, why not?
3. And if I am doing it, then how can I maximize this?

And your life will be infinitely richer!

So, if you want to be a true learner, make sure that what you ”know“ becomes part of your experience. And if you want to keep your boss (or father or anyone else) from telling you something that you ”know,“ just do it. Action will always settle the argument immediately!