Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement

KNOWLEDGE
GROWS EXPONENTIALLY
Today, however, it is impossible for one person to know everything
about even one small subject. Just look at modern medicine. There
are great minds who spend their entire lives studying the workings
of the inner ear or the trachea or one of the other organs of the
body. And even though these highly intelligent and dedicated pro-
fessionals spend their whole careers specializing in a particular part
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of the body, they never learn everything there is to know about even
that one organ.
Sometimes I ask audiences, “Is there anyone here who is a
know-it-all?” Of course, no one raises his or her hand. Then I go on
to explain what I mean by a know-it-all.
A know-it-all is a person who feels that he knows everything
that he needs to know about a subject. How can you tell if you have
become a know-it-all? It is easy. You have stopped learning and
growing in your area of specialization.You have stopped reading, lis-
tening to audio programs, and taking additional courses.
The very fact that you fail to regularly seek out new knowledge
in your field means that you have unconsciously, accidentally,
slipped into the intelligence trap of the low performer.You have un-
wittingly become a know-it-all by the very act of not continuing to
learn and grow.
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