Wisdom. A function of age or were we born with it?
And why we need it now more than ever.
I have just been training the Leadership team in a 5* hotel in Asia to be mentors. They have been tasked with equipping and inspiring the next generation of local leaders. In fact, they have to do it in order to stay in business — as the current leaders are mostly foreign and the Government wants future leaders to be mostly Asian. Fair enough. So it’s important that the current leaders learn how to share their wisdom. Or put more accurately — it’s important that they help the people that will succeed them to realise their own wisdom.
“The mentor’s role is to help another realise their potential, capability, judgement and Wisdom.”
- David Clutterbuck, Director of the European Mentoring Centre
But what is Wisdom?
We can easily confuse information with wisdom. Knowing about something. Many of us have been trained at school and beyond to be good at knowing facts, gathering data, being able to make a logical case. To make an argument work on paper. Or in your head. Perhaps to see what has worked before and try to replicate it, bending reality to match some kind of pre-existing winning formula. You could call that intellectual knowledge — and you can Google that kind of thing. Knowledge is great. It’s fascinating, educational and interesting. But does it really change anything?
When it comes to human beings — information alone doesn’t seem to make much difference to anything. On it’s own — it’s just information. More data. There is another piece that is required to make a real impact on us. You could call that… insight. Knowing you know. The a-ha kind of feeling when the penny drops. A realisation. Clarity. A deep embodied kind of intuitive knowing — when you know, you know. It comes from inside. In-sight. We know it is insight because it creates a shift in perspective. And insight is in fact — the only the agent of change.
You see, if information alone did it, no-one would smoke or trash the planet. We certainly have the information. But we need our own personal insight if we are to really know something in an embodied way — and another word for that insightful knowing? Wisdom. The interesting thing about real wisdom is that it has a fresh quality — a made to measure clarity for this exact moment — for what we are dealing with right now — versus what may have worked for someone else or even us in the past.
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and a rational mind, it’s faithful servant. We have forgotten the gift and made the servant, the master.”
- Einstein
Where does Wisdom come from?
It can seem that wisdom is the domain of those older and more experienced. We even call it ‘received wisdom.’ And yet, consider the possibility that wisdom is actually innate and arises naturally when we are here, in the moment and aligned with our own wellbeing? Think about it. When your mind is relaxed and calm, and you are present and ‘in the zone’ don’t you get your best ideas? Especially when you are not even thinking about them! People often report the perfect solution arises when they are driving, in the shower or folding the laundry — in a calm and receptive, mentally neutral state of mind.
So, what gets in the way?
It may seem counter-intuitive — however it is a fact that the more we think — the less wise we are. When we want to get an answer to a problem and get us some wisdom — we often go in the opposite direction of a calm mind — we get busy and tend to think really hard about something, ruminate, ask everyone else what they think and generally add a whole pile of thinking on top of our existing thinking — which is the equivalent of shaking the snowglobe of our mind and expecting it to be clear. This rarely works out. Luckily direct access to wisdom is much simpler and much easier. When we can let our minds settle — there is space for reflective, common sense and real insight to pop in — also known as our innate wisdom — which is perfectly designed to meet the needs of the moment.
We live in a world where stress is normal and busy-ness a badge of honour. We have information overload, chronic mental stress issues, and a loss of connection to ourselves. each other and the earth. It doesn’t seem to be working out so well. There has to be a better way to help ourselves and others be insightful.
Creating the conditions for an Insight Space
We can learn to listen each other into brilliance. This requires making a space for insights to arise when we are with others. I often think of insights as like little baby deer — you can’t make them come — but you can make the space conducive for them to be most likely to arise.
Q. What creates a space for insight in others?
A. Who you are being, not what you know.
How you can help others be wise:
1) Listen deeply
2) Offer your full presence
3) Explore with neutral curiosity (to help reduce another’s mental interference)
4) Look for the wisdom (and potential) in others
5) Have humility (be open to learning from others too)
6) Share what you see (without attachment to your point of view)
7) Relate as a human being (be on the same side)
8) Connect with your own wisdom (notice the feeling)
9) Know that personal insight is the only agent of change (people support what they create)
What would a Wiser world be like?
It looks like we might have a few problems right now — systemic problems, political problems, violence problems and the small problem of will the earth be able to sustain humanity in 10 years time? The kind of problems that urgently require a new level of insightful thinking.
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
- Einstein
We are going to need a world, where people are able to think differently to what has been done before, easily access fresh perspectives with ever more insight, resourcefulness and boldness.
Imagine instead systems sourced in wisdom and wellbeing…
Imagine organisations where people are operating in alignment with wellbeing more of the time — irrespective of their circumstances. In the zone: insightful, resilient, open, appreciative — wise. And bouncing back from the inevitable ebb and flow of life.
What would be possible? What problems would go away? How would your businesses and countries benefit?
How much human potential would be unleashed? Clarity, collaboration and creativity would naturally flow and from there the possibilities are endless.
We are going to need on the ground, common sense wisdom like never before. And for that we are going to need the kids to get really wise, really quick.
How can we Wise-up — fast?
What if we all got dished out equal access to wisdom at birth? If wisdom is the capacity to meet the needs of any given moment with common sense and resourcefulness. Then young children are certainly blessed with it. They are unhampered with how it should be — constantly in the present and open to the moment. They will often come up with innovative solutions to solve challenges with. And they often see things very clearly and neutrally. We need to recognise that wisdom is available to all — young and old if we can learn to hear it
“I told myself, Malala, you have already faced death. This is your second life. Don’t be afraid — if you are afraid, you can’t move forward.”
- Malala
When something that made sense before — no longer makes sense — rampant Capitalism anyone? When we don’t have the past to refer to as a guide. And the present requires fresh answers and after all the present is the only place we ever truly are — we will all need to learn to dig deeper and listen in.
Now more than ever, if we are to deal with this crucial imperative: our own human survival, we will need to become One World-Wise Tribe — and this will require us ALL to learn to listen in and value our innate wisdom.
“We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis…if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then… we should change the system itself.”
- Greta Thunberg
Elizabeth Lovius
Founder, Visionary and Poet
The Wisdom and Wellbeing Consultancy
The Wisdom and Wellbeing Consultancy helps people find their way back home to wisdom and wellbeing. We offer in-house coaching, educational programs and training to become a certified Wellbeing (&Wisdom) Practitioner.
