“For wisdom is a protection just as money is a protection, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its owner.” — Ecclesiastes 7:12

Money is a very useful tool in our daily lives. It allows us to purchase food, water, clothing, and shelter. Beyond that, it affords us the comforts of life: the latest technology, the snacks we love, a nice, brand new car, and so much more. Knowledge, and its counterpart wisdom, however, allow us to take full potential of, not just money, but every aspect of our lives.

Knowledge is the culmination of all the information we have on a given topic. Knowledge allows us to make money from our job by putting to use the schooling or training we’ve had throughout our lives. Knowledge allows us to put our skills to use and to sell ourselves so that we can eventually work for ourselves with the skills we gained.

Wisdom, however, teaches us how to spend the money we get through knowledge properly. If we depend on just knowledge we wind up spending our money in unnecessary ways, wasting it all away on brand new cars when we could’ve bought an older model for less. Wisdom allows us to invest our money instead of spending it on clothes so that we can have “clout” with our friends.

With knowledge, we live from paycheck to paycheck because we don’t have a full understanding of the proper usage of our time and money. But with wisdom, we’re able to invest that money into ourselves and eventually start our own business. This extends beyond just our finances too. If we know of possible future danger but don’t act on avoiding that danger, that’s a lack of wisdom. If we don’t equip ourselves to avoid disaster, that’s a lack of wisdom.

So how can we gain wisdom? Wisdom comes from acting on the knowledge we have gained in a sound and sensible way. We can gain better insight into our future by seeking advice from those who have already lived through what we are undergoing and have succeeded. Listen to the stories of people in your profession and put into action what you learn. Seek out people who embody the ideal aspects you want to become and ask them questions. Try to think ahead on the possible hurdles that may stand in your way and come up with how to overcome those hurdles from the insight you’ve received through those who have already defeated them. Follow the paths of those who have forged ahead of you, and don’t follow the paths of the losers and failures that riddle the sidelines.