There were sparks here and there, especially working in the school system. We tell our children, “Dream big!” and “Do it for yourself.” We say these things, but knowing is not enough. Knowledge is nothing without the action behind it, without the embodiment of it. I always say to be curious, not critical. And I think that when we change our lives into curiosity, we start to really learn and take action on what we learn. Because what we learn is actually actionable now. It’s not just learning it to say, “Oh, I got a degree,” “Oh, I’m doing this.” It’s not for accolades anymore. It’s learning to make decisions in our lives, to change our lives, and to change the lives of the people around us.
What is knowledge? Knowledge is just a conduit for what the change has to be. Because without the action behind the knowledge, it doesn’t mean anything. I coach a lot of families all over the world, and one of the things we do when we’re coaching is, “What did you get from today, and what are you going to do with it? What’s going to be different now that you have this knowledge? What are you going to do with this?” When they do the homework I give them, when they come back, I’m like, “What’s changed for you now that you’ve discovered this about yourself? What’s going to change with your relationship with your mom now that you realize mom’s not the evil mom? It’s that you guys weren’t hearing each other”
Look at what happens when you get curious and find the fun in it. Look what you’re actually doing now. You’re like, “I’m back there now. I’m sitting with these kids, and people have all these opinions about public school, and I’m going to be the conduit to change this now because you know more, so you can do more.” And that’s a key thing: the more we know, the more we can do. And shame on us for the ones that are learning this and not doing anything with it.
Listen to the full episode here:
“The Power of the Unknown” | with Yamile McBride
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