Understanding sits in a theory about something you know. It is basically something you know or you are aware that takes space in your brain. It is something that sort of “Good to know” piece of knowledge in your mind.
However, as any piece of knowledge, understanding is a dead theory without practice. I remember I had biology class back at school. Although I tried to be known as a pretty selective kid, I had no clue who I was and what I wanted to do, I definitely knew what I DON’T want to do. Biology (and anything related to medicine) was definitely in my list of DON’Ts. It was a dead theory for me that would never become something essential. This is why I tried to find smart-ass classmates to do my biology class homework or assessments for me in exchange for other knowledge. I was good at languages and literature, not too bad at maths and this is something I could offer in exchange.
I had knowledge in, say, Russian literature and I could offer it to someone who could do a biology assessment for me. In other words, I turned a dead theory into practice as I realised it is important for passing my tests. Realisation helped me to progress and refocus my time on something that is more important to me.
Same in life now. You have a piece of knowledge, you can be smart but so useless if you don’t realise this knowledge. Reading a great mindset book will still leave you useless if a piece of knowledge that you extracted is never realised in your mind.
Understanding - knowledge
Realisation - action
Let’s take a coffee that I am currently drinking as an example. I like the taste, coffee is good for me in moderation but I can make it better by replacing normal milk with almond milk. I am aware that it is meant to be healthier, less caloristic and should have a great nutty taste. It is my understanding. But I realise it when I actually try it. Then my action can turn into a habit of drinking only almond milk coffee.
Same with people around you. You have a friend who is sort of a useless waste of space. He talks shit, doesn’t grow, blames other people, etc. He shares with you some gossip about one or another. It can be fun though but not sustainable to grow a friendship. You understand that he is a bit of a loser but you still spend essential time with this person, well, it is just fun.
It would stay as it is until you realise that this friendship doesn’t bring you anything but just takes your time and other resources. You may start to observe and you can see that this friend of yours treats people poorly. For example, he talks shit about another friend of you two. But he might act nicely to the same guy when he is around. If you are observant enough, eventually it will make you realise that he probably does the same to you. It doesn’t really matter - people talk shit and always will. But what does matter then? If your friend is not there to make you grow as you try to do for him. If you realise you catch yourself on more questions such as “what’s next”, then eventually this friendship stops to exist. It is not relevant anymore for the person you want to be in 3-5 years - it is the realisation that will help you to let that person go on good terms before you ruin their relationship completely.
(Graph above belongs to the author of the blog)
I believe that we can learn something new everyday. But how good it feels when we can apply this something new into an action through a constant observation of the environment we are in (external) and your inner thoughts and judgements (internal). I love when my knowledge can become an action through a journey of observation. Especially now when we seem to be less occupied with the lockdown, this whole process keeps me pretty busy…
Angelina @angela_alina
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