There are many smart people in this world, and too few who are wise. Learn facts and information from the smart ones. Learn life and leadership from the wise. 

How often do you intentionally place yourself in the presence of wise people?

When you find yourself in a room full of wisdom, do you seek to impress these individuals, or do you choose to ask powerful questions and listen deeply?

Powerful questions and deep listening are accelerators for gaining wisdom. Do you have a question or two you enjoy asking the wise people you meet? One of my favorite questions is, “What are you reading?” This question led to a conversation that made time stand still one day years ago. An author, scholar, and world-class communicator sat across the table at lunch. He appeared fatigued. His interest level felt a little low.

The question above elicited an unhappy response related to some books he was reading for academic review. He then turned the question to me. When I told him what I was reading, he perked up and asked if I had read another book like the one I mentioned. He then said something that has stuck with me across all the intervening years: “That’s a book I wish I could read again for the first time.”

What a grand recommendation! The next several minutes were some of my all-time favorite moments. 

A keystone habit of those who are determined to grow in wisdom is note-taking. Are you prepared to capture and keep the words of wisdom you hear? Do you routinely record your own best thoughts for further pondering?

An app I use is about to go up in price. This particular app has over 80,000 notes in it. These notes contain bits of wisdom collected from all kinds of sources since 2008. Artificial intelligence is coming to that app to help sift through the clutter and helpfully arrange the golden nuggets. Those golden nuggets are worth far more than the elevated subscription price. 

Today is a good day to ask a powerful question, to listen deeply, and to capture what you learn. These habits repeated daily will make you one of the wise others seek out with powerful questions, deep listening, and attentive note-taking.

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I will gather with the wise, ask powerful questions, listen deeply, and capture what I learn.

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Our Father, bless me with opportunities to sit with the wise. Remind me to listen deeply. Give me powerful questions. Help me capture life-changing truth. Amen.