How to Cultivate Wisdom Before You’re Too Old to Benefit From It

You might be pretty smart, but are you wise? A smart person knows facts, and a wise person knows truths. A smart person can find a solution to a problem. A wise person avoids the problem altogether.

They say that wisdom comes with age, but who wants to wait that long?

It would be better to become wise as soon as possible. While experience matters, there are other ways to boost your wisdom to King Solomon levels.

Use these strategies to start becoming wiser today:

1. Read books. Books are perhaps the best way to gain wisdom quickly and at a young age. Smart people like to write books. No-so-smart people like to write books, too. So, be picky about the books you choose.
   • These smart people condense the information they think is most important into a few hundred pages that you can learn in a week or two. It took the author a lifetime to learn these things, and you can access it all in less than a month. What a deal!
2. Find a mentor. A mentor is an expert in an area of interest to you. A mentor can help you with your relationships, fitness, career, or any other specialized facet of life. The right mentor has a lot to share and can greatly add to your wisdom.
3. Examine your past for mistakes. Your mistakes have a lot to teach you. We don’t like to think about our mistakes, but you might as well gain all the benefit from them that you can. A mistake is just a step in your evolution.
   • Most of your mistakes could have been avoided. Think about how you could have prevented your mistakes from happening in the first place. Take them one by one and really think about it.
   • Most of your mistakes could have been handled better after the fact, too. Again, review all of your mistakes and consider what you could have done versus what you did.
4. Examine your past for successes. You’ve had a lot of successes, too. But, you probably didn’t learn as much from them as you could have. Review your successes. What did you do right? Can you do that again?
5. Evaluate your day. Spend 30 minutes at the end of each day and see what you can learn from your day.
   • Did you spend your time well?
   • What mistakes did you make?
   • What did you do well?
   • What could you have done better?
   • How can you have a better day tomorrow?
6. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can also learn from the mistakes of others. Everyone around you is making mistakes. Feel free to examine the mistakes of other people and learn what you can from them. Everyone’s mistakes can be of benefit for you.
7. Think. Think before you speak, decide, or take action. When something out of the ordinary happens, think. Not enough people take the time to actually think. A little thinking can avoid a lot of challenges.

Older people know a lot. But you also frequently hear them say, “I wish I had known this when I was younger.”

Luckily, you can learn a lot of things while you’re still young enough to benefit from them. You can start becoming wiser today. You don’t have to spend a lifetime making mistakes to become a wise person.

Learn from your experiences and the experiences of others. Read good books. Get a mentor. A little work now can pay off for the rest of your life.