Opemipo Adebanjo: How knowledge increases your capacity for greatness (Y! Superblogger)

A mind, once expanded by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.”- Oliver Wendell Holmes

“Madam, your website is ready,” he said during the call.

I was so excited because he delivered on time too. When I checked the website five minutes later however, my balloon of joy was deflated. Not only had he gotten the name of the website wrong, he also used the wrong content management system; A system I didn’t know a thing about. It involved knowing how to code and I didn’t know the smallest thing about coding a website. To add insult to injury, the grammatical errors on the site could send even Aunty Patience crying foul. All this after taking my time to explain what I wanted to him in detail. I was angry as I called him a minute later to let him know my frustration. I had paid for this website for God’s sake, was I to pay for his errors and lack of skill?

But the question is: Was I going to further waste time and money by starting over again?

I didn’t like this option, so I set out to learning codes and building a website. It wasn’t easy I must tell you and not much help was available. I took my search to YouTube. The only clear video I could find on the topic was the most boring. I slept off once while watching it. I gave up. Then some weeks later, I found the answer I was looking for. And it was on the internet all along! Just a few clicks and my website was up and running! What am I saying? In life and in everything, what is between moving from where you are to where you want to be is INFORMATION.

There is power in knowing. If you are not succeeding yet, there is something you need to know. Whatever it is, find it and learn it!

What may move you from where you are now to a greater place is just a simple tip, some inside information that you don’t have access to. You can imagine a man dying in mediocrity simply because he didn’t access the information to move him to relevance. I say again, “THERE IS POWER IN KNOWING.”

Knowing and learning can come in many forms: through books, the internet, people, and even inanimate objects. Unfortunately, not many people can boast that they opened a book after leaving school. No man whoever became relevant didn’t read or acquire knowledge.

This is one of the best times to be alive. The internet makes so much information available and it is for free! Many young men and women have maximized their potentials and accessed greatness through the internet. This is the information age and many have leveraged this as a stepping stone to relevance. Learning breaks your mind free from the chains that hold it bound. Learning expands your horizons and makes you break into territories previously unknown. The secret is that there is no secret. You just need to keep expanding your mind and keep increasing your capacity for greatness.

Knowing however can be detrimental. Sometimes to move forward in life, you may have to unlearn some things. You may need to let go of some thought patterns that aren’t moving you forward. Wisdom is needed during such times. So in your knowing, apply wisdom. It is also not enough to know, knowledge needs to be applied.  As you accumulate knowledge, test the waters. See what works and discard what doesn’t.

What you know, and apply increases your capacity for greatness. So keep knowing, keep learning. Die empty.

So, here’s to greatness.

Cheers.

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Opemipo Adebanjo is a writer, columnist, social media lover and boundary mover. She blogs at www.opesays.com and tweets from @opesays

 

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.

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