How to Gain Wisdom

Do new things. It will be difficult for you to achieve wisdom if you just hang around the house and do the same thing every day. You will be wiser once you can boldly step out into society and give yourself the opportunity to learn, make mistakes, and reflect on your own experiences. If you tend to be timid, try to find ways to foster an inquisitive spirit and a willingness to put yourself in new situations. ^[1] Every time you experience something new, you open yourself up to the possibility of learning and becoming a little wiser once you’ve tried it.

• Going places you’ve never been before is a great way to gain some life experience. For example, book a trip to another country, or “go on a trip” to another city near where you live. Try going to a restaurant that is popular with locals, instead of going to your favorite restaurant. Whenever given any opportunity, you should choose novelty over familiarity.
• Joining new social activities is also a good way to expand your world. If you tend to spend your time watching sports, buy a ticket to see a play. If you’re a nerd, you can sign up for a hiking group or join a bowling team.

Get out of your comfort zone. If you’re afraid to do something, maybe that’s what you need to do. When you have to deal with an awkward or scary situation, you will be better able to equip yourself to be able to deal with the fear when you encounter it again. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “We gain strength, courage, and confidence through each experience we have when we stop being afraid…we need to do what we are. think we can’t.”

• For example, if you have a fear of public speaking, volunteer to be a speech reader.
• If you don’t like sharing your feelings, make an effort to have a conversation with someone you love to let them know that you care. You should also ask about how the person is feeling.

Make an effort to talk to someone you don’t know well. You should talk to people who come from different backgrounds and have different perspectives than you, and pay attention to what you can learn from them. Try not to judge them based on your narrow perspective. The more you empathize with others, the wiser you will become. ^[2]

• Get in the habit of being a good listener, and ask lots of questions to get more information. You should really pay attention to what the other person is saying rather than thinking about it. Each conversation will give you the opportunity to get to know the other person better, broaden your horizons and, in turn, make you wiser.
• You should also share about yourself with the person you’re talking to. Try to form deeper conversations than usual and cultivate new friendships.

Become open-minded. Instead of being judgmental about something you don’t know well, you should look at it from a different angle and make an effort to learn about it. ^[3] It is fairly easy to form an opinion based on your limited experience in life, but this is not the way to achieve wisdom. You can’t stop growing in particular circumstances with specific people, but you can decide to be open to learning different things in life.

• Avoid forming your own opinion based on what others think, or on a popular trend. You need to do your own research and consider both sides of the issue before deciding your opinion on any one issue.
• For example, maybe you think a certain type of music won’t be good because your friends don’t like it. Before you decide to “follow” someone, you should try going to a live band that plays that type of music, and learn about its history. When you take the time to learn something, it’s up to you to decide whether you like it or not, rather than making a decision before you experience it.