The More You Know You, the Less You're Gonna Me

Last week I was texting a friend, and I wanted him to say what I already knew he would say. Until he didn't. Like this…

ME: "You know what's going to happen, right?"

(Thinking he doesn't have a clue.)

"YES, I'll be used again. I know that. Still, I want to go."

Long silence from me. OH, I think.

My balloon of wisdom just farted to the floor - in its place, the realization that I mistook my arrogance for wisdom.

The so-called "wise" always know. It's infuriating.

The first time I found out I was that person was at a residential in Australia in 1985. I was running my Alexander's Story workshop - and finally one of the participants couldn't stand it anymore.

"Is there anything you don't know?!" he pleaded in exasperation.

I was flummoxed, I had no idea why he was so upset; no idea how arrogantly I was coming across. Confidence easily slips towards arrogance, aided and abetted by doubt and insecurity.

But as you know who you are, so you know less about who others are. The way we fix our identities is by fixing the identities of those around us. We project onto them the behaviour that confirms our own view.

I stay stable by keeping you stable, except it's all my fairy tale.

As I come to know my Self, I no longer need my fairy tale. Growing inner affinity allows me to realise how little I really know about you. Instead of knowing, I shift into discovering.

It's the same with your students - the more you know you, the less you know them. That's wonderful, because discovery happens best within the space of "not knowing"

Our work is about going from the know to the unknown, first with your Self, then with your students.

Smashing down that wall of arrogance that claims to know what your students are thinking is one of the first lessons I share in my 60Day Foundations course, starting next week. I am still learning it.

I put up more details - go check it out:

https://atsuccess.com/foundations

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