Overcoming a Lack of Knowledge

Finding success usually requires obtaining knowledge in an area or two. If you don’t know how to accomplish your goals, you either have to learn or you stay stuck. There are plenty of options when it comes to learning what you need to know. But sometimes, people either make excuses or they encounter road blocks that keep them stalled.

Don’t Allow a Lack of Time to Serve as Your Excuse to Fail

One of these excuses is when people believe that they don’t have the time to pursue their goals. More often than not, instead of looking at the situation, they simply dismiss it by saying, “I don’t have time” and then they fail to accomplish what they’d like to do.

They want to wait until they have more time before they start to seek the knowledge that they need to know. You can find people who are still waiting years later. You may be accepting failure.

You may believe that you don’t have time when that’s not really what’s going on. Subconsciously, you can allow fear or inner misgivings to stop you from trying to find a way around your lack of time.

Maybe you’re busier than most people. But that still doesn’t mean that you can’t find the time that you want to find personal or professional success. It just means that you have to try a little harder if your days are already packed from sunrise to sunset.

If you’ve been telling yourself that you don’t have the time to acquire the knowledge that you need, you need to recognize that as an excuse. You need to make the decision on what’s important to you.

Successful people know that what’s important to them always gets done. So finding the time in your life may require some temporary sacrifice on your part. Many people who’ve achieved the success that they want did so because they made sacrifices both big and small.

You might have to give up one thing in order to make time but if you want something badly enough, you will find a way to make it happen. If you aren’t really committed to what you want, then you won’t.

Recognize that sometimes a lack of time is really a lack of discipline. You do have the time but you’ve been squandering minutes here and there throughout your day. If you find those leaking time wasters, you’ll be able to take control and cut out the things that eat up your time - time that you could put to use gaining knowledge.

To find the time that you need, you should make a must-do list. These are things that are non-negotiable that take up your days or nights. It could be work, spending time with a loved one or whatever.

Look for ways that you can find time at work such as eating lunch while you’re learning the knowledge you need instead of going out to lunch. Or skipping a break or two and using that time.

If you make gaining the knowledge that you need a priority, you will find a way to make it happen.

Put Personal Finances Aside and Find the Information You Need to Level Up

Not having the money they need to go after what they want in life is something that bars some people from succeeding. You have to be careful because you may be using personal finances as an excuse.

If there’s something that you’d like to do in your life, don’t let your personal finances keep you from chasing that goal. If your financial situation is one that isn’t the best, realize that you’re not alone.

In fact, more people than not have financial struggles. Many live paycheck to paycheck. Some don’t even have that much. They’re unemployed yet seeking a way to better their lives by gaining knowledge to improve their situation.

If you’ve longed to change your life in some way but your first thought is that you don’t have the money, you need to recognize that for what it is. It’s an excuse. It’s self-defeating behavior.

You’ve already decided that it’s not going to happen for you because it’s impossible. Impossible is only a word people use to apply to situations. It has no bearing on the determination of a person.

Determination beats impossible every time. If you’re determined to change your life, then you will. Even if your personal finances are in shambles. You can juggle your money enough to be able to afford the knowledge that you need.

And if you literally don’t have a penny in income, you can find the information by going to the library and reading books there or using their computers to study the information that you need.

You can connect with others who may know what you need to know, too. It never hurts to ask someone who knows what you’d like to know how they accomplished what they did.

You can barter what you know or have. If someone has the knowledge that you want and you don’t have the money to pay to learn, ask what you can do for them in exchange for the information.

Whatever it takes to make your goals a reality, you have that power. You just have to find the right option. Successful people let nothing stop them. Nothing. They might hold a yard sale, do some odd jobs, sell some items they don’t want – whatever it takes.

They tighten their belts. Anything that’s not basic - such as food and shelter - isn’t a priority. They get rid of wants and live just on needs - that which is essential to continue living - while they’re gaining the information they want in order to level up.

If there’s information that you want, you don’t let anything get in the way of that. You find a way around whatever is blocking your path. You have to keep in mind that if you do nothing to change your life, then it won’t change for the better and could even get worse. You’ll still be right where you are a year from now. Or the year after that.

If You Have Difficulty Understanding One Teacher, Search for a Better One

It’s true that a lack of knowledge can keep you from reaching personal or professional goals if you allow that to happen. Some people engage in self-help courses. Others take classes or formal education.

Whatever course of action you choose to take, the person who’s important for imparting that knowledge to you needs to be one that’s best for you. While anyone can claim to have the ability to teach, not everyone can.

Some people who teach others how to do what they do are full of charisma but their explanations on how to accomplish something leaves everyone scratching their heads.

It’s not enough to have the information.

That person must be able to impart knowledge in a way that you can understand it and be able to apply it in your own life. If you can’t understand the teacher then you’re wasting your time and money trying to learn from them.

Sometimes you may not understand the teacher because of a difference in your learning style as compared to their teaching style. An example would be a teacher who heavily relies on audio when you need visuals.

That’s why it’s important to keep your personal learning style in mind when you’re searching for a teacher. This doesn’t mean that you can’t learn from someone who teaches using a style that’s not your preferred method, but it will be harder.

It could also be that there’s a personality conflict and that can impact your ability to absorb their information. An example would be if a teacher is too “by the book” and you’re more laid back.

Or if you’re someone who needs a hands-on demonstration and they don’t offer that. Know when to call it quits and change teachers. If you’ve been paying attention to what’s being taught and it seems like nothing is making sense, don’t automatically assume that the problem is with you.

Instead, it could be a clue that you need help from someone else. A good teacher is someone who’s open and doesn’t mind your questions regardless of how many you ask.

They’ll keep pointing you in the right direction. If you have a question because you don’t understand something and the teacher brushes you off, that’s also a clue that it’ll be best for you to find a new teacher.

Look for a teacher who can break difficult topics down into manageable steps. Some teachers are big picture thinkers that don’t break information down into small enough tasks. For example, a teacher who tells you to install a program for a website but doesn’t give you the action steps.