The Humility of Learning
Why Thinking You Know It All is Stagnation 101
How often have you turned down a conversation because you think you already have the answer, or you think someone has nothing to help you with or provide for you? I often struggle to take advice from others when I feel more educated on a subject or even if I hold I conviction I know would be hard to influence otherwise.
A recent example of this was when a financial advisor reached out to me over LinkedIn and asked to connect and have an initial conversation. If any of you know me, you’d know that I take my finances very seriously and am constantly educating myself on trends and long-standing strategies and investment vehicles. I have curated my portfolio into one which I believe will stand the test of time and set up my family for success in the coming years, so when someone ever reaches out about helping me, I’m one who will shoot them down or challenge their investment philosophies. I love to ask financial professionals “WHY” they suggest a certain thing, and usually they have an out of the book response. This is probably because not a lot of people my age have educated themselves around finance like I have, so they start with the basics. Like what a 401k rollover is, what a Roth IRA is, how stock market indexes and mutual funds work, and topics like these. However, I do believe not hearing someone out in this circumstance can stagnate growth, and this is what this blog will be about.
Thinking You Know Everything is Stagnation 101
I have quote which sits in my house, sometimes on my desk, and sometimes on my nightstand from Michelangelo that says, “I am still learning”. It is a reminder that even the most influential artist possibly of all time was able to humble himself and admit that there is more to figure out, more to explore, and MORE TO LEARN!
It serves as a reminder, although a hard reminder that you don’t know everything and admitting that is the first step to growth, and maybe even becoming a better person.
What this means for me, is that I was able to humble myself and accept the most recent invitation for financial advice upcoming this week. I am still going to challenge this advisor, I am still going to ask questions about her investment philosophies, and most importantly I am going to ask her questions which I do not know the answer to and topics I need help with. Maybe she won’t have the answer, maybe I do know more than her, maybe she has nothing to offer in my investment journey, but the act of being curious and humble during the interaction may allow her to teach me something, or for me to learn something new that I just haven’t noticed.
I challenge you to pinpoint the topic which you think you know everything about and to be open to a conversation about it without being prideful or smug. It isn’t always easy because I believe this is a natural response, but I believe that if you approach life with openness and willingness to learn it will often surprise you in unexpected ways.
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