“Knowledge is power.”
We’ve all heard this expression and for the longest time I thought this was true. But over time I realized there was another piece to the puzzle and that is the application of what we know.
Far too many of us don’t do what we know is good. Point in case, how many of us floss? How many of us exercise regularly? How many of us drink too much? How many of us let our emotions get the better of us? You get the idea.
We all know these things are good for us and yet so many of us choose, willingly, not to do them.
Yes, knowing what to do and doing it are completely different things.
That being said, not knowing is a killer.
Not knowing can lead to an injury, a bankruptcy, a fight, a divorce, even a loss of life. So while knowing isn’t enough, it most certainly is the first step.
I believe GI Joe said it best when they ended their cartoons in the 1980s with the famous line – “And knowing is half the battle.”
We can find knowledge in a variety of sources, many of which I discuss here on this site.
- Books
- DVDs
- Audio lectures
- Seminars
- Discussions
- Mastermind groups
- Classes
One source that many people overlook is that of travel. Traveling overseas is an eye-opening experience. From the food to the language to the culture many of us experience sensory overload when we travel and not even know it.
In comfortable surroundings, our senses become dull. We know the lay of the land. We know the people. We know where to go. What not to do. As such, we are often sleep walking through our day.
Ever find yourself wondering what you did for hours? That happens when we stay in one place because one day blends into the next.
But on travels sometimes left is right and up is down.
Things don’t make sense to us. And therefore we awaken from our usual state of relaxation and must focus to achieve sometimes the easiest of tasks such as getting toothpaste or ordering food.
True, it can be frustrating to have waiters look at us like fools when we try and explain to them what we want in our language.
Having traveled all over the world starting at the young age of 8 at first I never realized just how meeting different people and seeing different places was affecting me but now I realize how powerful it was.
You get a new found appreciation for your own culture as well as learn new things that will help differentiate yourself from other people.
As children all we want to do is fit in but as adults we learn that if we are like everyone else that we will never get ahead.
To succeed in this world we must find our own personal and business USPs (unique selling points).
Traveling forces us to take in new sights and sounds, whether we want to or not. That’s just not the case at home.
In fact, it is my experience that wherever people live, over time, they tend to build a sort of barrier of protection to keep what they want in and what they don’t out. We attend functions with people we know. We rarely visit new places instead choosing what is comfortable.
When we travel, we are no longer allowed this luxury. We are forced to deal with things that at home we have learned to automate.
The benefit of this is learning takes place. And even for those people who might not learn it does at least give them a story to share with their friends back home. So either way it’s a win-win situation; either you gather new knowledge that will be of use in the future or you end up with a story that might amuse others.
“Expanding ones horizons” is something we believe is good for us and traveling across the globe will do that both figuratively and literally.
One word of warning – there will be those trips that you might want to forget, but that’s a small price to pay for all that we get out of it.
Never let opportunities to travel overseas pass you by.
Break free from the norm and live a little.
Speaking of which, I’m off to Thailand this X-Mas and while I lived there many years ago each time I go back things are so different. New restaurants, new shops, new sights, and new adventures await my family and I and I, for one, can’t wait.
With any luck, I’ll try and get some video posts done there and put them up here.
Sensory overload here I come.
Adrian Shepherd