Knowledge is a Problem

Knowledge: A double-edged sword.

Sometimes, too much information is bad information.

For someone who is an ardent preacher of knowledge, books, and growth, you'd wonder, "What is Coach Abiola on about again?" Just stay with me till the end and you will also conclude that sometimes, knowledge is a problem.

First, let me start with a personal story. So I visited a dear friend's graduation a couple of about two weeks ago and as it is with Nigerian universities roads during graduation events, you bet the traffic congestion to the venue was insane (and this is even an understatement).

It got so bad on my way to the venue that I and a couple of other people going in the same direction had to alight a bus stop to the university and walked the rest of the way.

Leaving the venue was worse. There was no public transport anywhere. A lot of people were waiting in hopes of a miracle. Other people were appealing to private vehicles to get them to the next bus stop. Then there were others who I saw walking along.

It wasn't a route I knew. In fact, that was the first time I had been to that part of the city so I thought, since these guys are walking, how about I just join them and walk to the next bus stop? It can't be that far. And so, I started.

I walked for what seemed like 45 minutes on a long road, and it wasn't looking like it would end any time soon. I continued until I got to the third bus stop where I finally got a bus.

It was a good decision I made, because I never would have gotten home the time I did if I decided I was going to wait at the gate of the university like every other person hoping to get a bus, or even get a free ride. Some probably did, but I don't like leaving things to chance.

The truth is, though, if I knew how far the distance to the bus stop was, I am pretty sure I never would have made that walk. In the end, I am glad I didn't know, because my knowledge of the distance would have stopped me from walking. I would have thought it was too far to venture. And that's what is wrong with so many people today.

A few days after that, the same thing happened. It rained heavily and the road was congested. I was heading home from work and I got to the bus stop. I looked at the crowd, I looked at the traffic on the road, I looked in front of me towards the direction I was headed, and right there and then I decided that I was going to walk. "Oh, look at where I'm going. It's not that far," and so, I started the journey.

Long story short, it was farrrr, but I did it. For those who are familiar with Lagos routes, I walked all the way from Alausa down to Omole Phase II. I had a sense of how far it was, but because I looked up and saw a landmark that indicated to me that it wasn't as far as I thought, I got on the journey.

Truth is, if I had an exact sense of what the distance was, I'd have probably thought it was better to stick with the crowd at the bus stop and hoped to out-hustle them to get a public bus.

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Many of us have let our knowledge about something stop us from attempting it. This is where knowledge can be a problem. We know about how difficult something is, so we never attempt. We simply label it as impossible, until someone who didn't know so much about it comes into the room and breaks the record.

We know the route so much and know that it is an impossible walking distance until someone with lesser knowledge than us about the subject matter comes and does what we had labeled as impossible.

We know about the problem so much we are crippled and never even attempt to find a solution. We know about how deadly the virus is, we never attempt to find a cure. We have studied so much about how deep the valley is, we never attempt to take the jump.

We have studied hard about people who have attempted to solve the problem and failed. We have soaked in research about all the people who gave up, who died attempting to do the thing so much that we never bother about it anymore.

We know how terminal the disease is, how many people have died from it, we have read articles of the 0.05% chance of survival so much that our minds can't even conceive a miracle.

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Maybe it's time to stop gulping knowledge down your throat that causes you not to make the jump. Sometimes, too much information is bad information. Sometimes, too much knowledge is a problem. See how I haven't even introduced how haughty knowledge makes you, how heavy you become from the amount of knowledge you have that you simply cannot lift yourself to make a mark and cause a change in your life.

Yes, it sounds counterintuitive, but it is possible for someone to know too much, they become too heavy to move and cause a change in their life and the world around them. They become too heavy to attempt anything positive with their lives.

See the amount of successful people today, people who did seemingly impossible things after so many failed attempts. I bet if they knew how difficult it was, if Thomas Edison knew the amount of times he was going to fail before he started, maybe he wouldn't have started in the first place. Good thing he didn't know. Good thing he went on without that knowledge you have light in your house.

I have two questions today:

1. Is there something you know you are supposed to do but have let too much knowledge of it stop you?

2. Is there something you should be doing right now but you are trying to get all the information first before you start?

If you answered Yes to either or both of the questions ahead, then I put it to you that you are making a mess of the genius inside of you. You are letting knowledge be your undoing.

Go without all the knowledge. Figure it out on the way. If you die, fine. At least you would have died for something (plus, you won't even know you died). And if you fail..., well, truth is, you cannot fail. Failure is a myth, and we will discuss that in another newsletter.

To your growth,

Your Coach,

Abiola Okunsanya,

Handzinspired. ✨