Knowing What To Do & Doing What You Know

“You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.” -Tony Robbins

When I was an undergraduate student at Baylor University, I knew (deep down in my gut) that I didn’t want to be a doctor because I just didn’t like medicine and I hated the math and science components to it. I “knew” my freshman year that I didn’t want to be a doctor. I “knew” my sophomore year. And I “knew” my junior year. In fact, I knew through out my time there.

The problem, as Tony Robbins points out, was that while I knew that I didn’t want to become a doctor and stick with pre-medicine, I didn’t do anything about it.

It wasn’t until the second semester of my third year in college, after taking almost every single science and math classes that they required pre-med majors to take (including Calculus and Organic Chemistry…I took those classes twice), that something inside forced me to acknowledge what I had known all along, that I hated medicine.

I spent three years suffering through boring and difficult science classes because I was paralyzed. I was afraid because I didn’t know what to do with what I knew. It’s like eating something that makes you sick to your stomach. The nausea starts to build slowly at first in your belly and then gradually to your throat. By the time it hits your throat’s gag reflex, it’s all over.

Life Lesson Learned: Knowing what to do isn’t enough, you have to do what you know.