QUOTE #4
"Wisdom is a love affair with questions.
Knowledge is a love affair with answers."
Julio Olalla
I am not sure exactly how I came across him, but I did. And, when I heard Julio Olalla talk about, "Amo La Vida" (translated, I love life). Those words allowed me to breathe deep.
For years and years... decades in fact, I had been searching for the answer,
How do find happiness and success? was just one of the many questions that circled my mind.
Julio Olalla suggests that our questions are actually our guide, moreso than our answers. He suggests that the questions we ask ourselves through life, are very often the same. The answers are different as you go through life, and experience different phases.
What makes sense today, won't necessarily make sense tomorrow.
The right answer for what to do as a company today, may be a different answer tomorrow.
The best way to approach something with someone, may require a different approach with someone else.
The answer change and evolve over time...
The questions... they remain the same.
Act on the answer that makes the most sense, and then go live and ask yourself the question again.
That is life.
Don't wait for the perfect answer... live the answer you've got and allow it to evolve and transform.
When I am at a sales call, in front of a client, my questions are so much more important than my answers.
When I am in front of an employee,,,
When I am in front of my sons...
The questions... they guide me and inform me and enlighten me...
Pay attention in meetings, and in conversation. See who asks questions and see who gives answers, and pay attention to the dynamics in the conversation.
I was interviewing someone at the office the other day and I was asking them about their interests in the technical versus managerial versus business areas.
"I want to stay technical", they told me. "Because I don't think I know all of the answers yet. There is so much more I need to learn."
"I respect that." I said. "Pursue your passion and learn all that you can."
"Me", I went on, "I no longer want to have all of the answers, because I couldn't remember them all even if I learned them. I realize that I can never learn as much as all of the people around me know... so now I focus on learning the right questions. I don't want to know the right answers... I want to know the right questions." I said.
He went deep in though... and didn't say too much.
When in conversation... when trying to find the best possible solutions...
There is wisdom and there is knowledge.
Both are valuable.
But one, I believe sets you free and puts you in charge of the situation in a very different way...
And one, ultimately allows you to uncover the very best solution to the question in that moment...
WISDOM...
It is a frustrating lover at times, perhaps...
But, from that first time I heard Julio say it, I never looked back.
"I am going to trust my questions." I thought to myself... they are the right questions. And, they alone will guide me. Keep showing up. Keep asking. Keep listening for the answers and keep moving forward.
"Wisdom is a love affair with questions. Knowledge is a love affair with answers."
I could have saved myself so much time, and so much anguish, if I had heard that quote earlier in life.
When you know the right question... you UNCOVER the treasure chest of possible solutions, and you learn about those around you.
When you know the right questions.... your ability to know answers and learn is limitless.
When you know the right answer... you don't need to learn anything else.
Questions OPEN... answers CLOSE...
conversations...
explorations...
our minds...
Wisdom is growth... Knowledge is fixed.
Trust your questions... Grow your wisdom... and discover new dimensions all around you...
Go ahead, just ask me ;-)
Yours in harmony,
Nestor