What exactly is wisdom? 

 

"The decisions you make in life will ultimately determine the quality of life in which you live" - unknown author. 

Different people have different viewpoints about what wisdom really is. Some people look at it like some sort of "philosophy" but this couldn't be further from the truth. Real wisdom is very simple once you learn the concept about what is really is. The wisest man on earth was King Solomon spoken of in the Bible. This is the formula for wisdom from Proverbs: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom..." Proverbs 9:10. What is the fear of the Lord? "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate" Proverbs 8:13. Therefore, wisdom in a nutshell is the art of making good decisions. PERIOD. It must be a decision to hate evil or sin if you will. You can do this on many levels. I would say that the main thing holding people back from being wise or making wise/good decisions is pride. If you learn to let go of your prideful ego you will go much further in terms of not only finance but other areas of life as well.

Like my headline says, "Good Decisions = A Good Life" ("Good" meaning with the right perspective of course). The opposite is also true. Bad decisions leads to a bad or crummy life. Simple as that. Think about it. Take for example someone buys a brand new gas guzzling SUV because of style and "coolness" rather than MPG especially if one has to drive a long distance to work 5 days a week or more. This decision means a higher monthly payment not including more expensive insurance and more gas consumption. Financial stress can cause relationship issues thereby leading to lower quality life. Of course this is just one example, but can you see how decisions can cause chain reactions of other unplanned events?

OK so how does one go about making good decisions then? The only way to learn how to make good decisions is simple - Gain more Knowledge. The more you know about your decision the better off you are in making it. You must be INFORMED. This isn't very fun. Most people want things handed to them. We live in a "microwave" society where we are inpatient and want things NOW. People don't want to put in the hard work to get ahead in life. They put limits on themselves. Saying such things as, "I'm just not good at computers. They are too complicated for me". What they are really saying is, "I don't want to put in the hard work to learn how they work for me to get better at operating one". There are a lot of issues here. One is low self esteem in thinking that they aren't very smart to begin with so why try? They feel intimidated by something they don't know anything about. Other people are just plain lazy when it comes down to it. For example some may say, "I just don't have the time to learn about computers". Maybe they are too tired after work or have "better things to do" such as watching TV or playing on Facebook etc... By the way watching TV is your number one enemy when it comes to becoming wise - it is TIME SUCKER!

So yes, becoming wise is an "easy" concept but it still takes time and effort. This is why the Bible says, "consider the ant thou sluggard" in Proverbs 6:6. Ants don't sit around they are constantly working. So be informed/knowledgeable, don't be lazy, and don't be prideful - coupled with the right perspective of course.

Why become wise? To have a great life. To live longer, to get the best deals on things; the ability to get the best return on your investments. And, once you have it, it cannot be stolen. Subscribe to the blog and learn more about how to become wise.