Gaining Wisdom.

The fortune that Tom sent to me for today suggests that your wisdom will help you avoid danger. Notice that the message says nothing of "knowledge," which is gained from study, reading, and research. No, it clearly says WISDOM, which I believe comes only from experience. In order for your wisdom to keep you from danger, you must have been in danger before, and depending on the depth of your wisdom, you've probably faced danger more than once.

In my estimation, there are two primary ways to avoid danger: The first is to play it safe. If you don't do dangerous things, you will avoid danger, and you'll probably pay less for life insurance. However, the price you'll pay for playing it safe is that you will always stay inside the box and never learn your limits. Being safe teaches you nothing about danger.

The second way to avoid danger is to take risks. When you find yourself in danger, you learn how to avoid those pitfalls the next time you encounter them. I'm not saying that you must make every possible mistake to learn what a mistake looks like. On the contrary, the amazing thing about wisdom is that it can be applied effectively to more than one situation. Each time you trip, stumble, or fail, you gain more wisdom, which ultimately makes you more powerful. Depending on how quickly you learn, you'll eventually be able to recognize danger from a mile away.

I had the privilege of serving as a judge for the Volunteer of the Year Award this year. In reading through the nomination submitted for Tom, I found that his accomplishments included several initiatives described with phrases like "first-ever," "largest," and "most ever." 

Tom has a wealth of experience and leveraged his business acumen to take risks "safely," and his AMA chapter benefited from his wisdom. As a leader, he started new big idea concepts, many of which had never been tried before but have since flourished into a platform of stability for his successors. So, the next time you take a risk with your marketing and make a dangerous mistake, be grateful for the wisdom you've gained...one day it will pay back in spades.