The Golden Sequence

The Golden Sequence is a book to help people reclaim a happy,meaningful, and, fulfilling life. Jonni Pollard has helped thousands of people across the world to make a happier life and more meaningful relationships. She uses Vedic practices and lessons that she calls the Golden Sequence.

{This is submitted for a monthly column in Organic Spa Magazine (probably the March issue) once it is published the publishers will decide whether to post online or I may repost on my blog as well at http://psychologyofwellbeing.com.)

Turning Knowledge into Wisdom
By Jeremy McCarthy
In the modern world, getting what we want is easy, usually at the click of a button. Knowing what we want is difficult. A fundamental challenge of life in the age of information and abundance is how to convert knowledge into wisdom.
The ancient Greek philosophers referred to this ability to make the right decisions as “phronesis” and it was considered (by Aristotle, Socrates, Plato) as a master virtue that was required to lead a good and moral life. “Phronesis” is usually translated as “prudence” or “practical wisdom.” Although these are terms that we don’t often speak about nowadays, these ideas are actually more important than ever to help us navigate in a world of endless choices and possibilities. So how do we develop “practical wisdom?”
1. Experience
The best way to gain wisdom is through experience. As the old saw goes, “Good judgement comes from experience, which comes from bad judgement.” We gain wisdom by living life, by making mistakes, by learning our lessons. There is an argument here about the need to get away from technology. Our devices are great at spoon feeding us information, but not so good at teaching us the wisdom that comes from real world practice.
2. Reflection on the Past
In The Golden Sequence, a new book by mindfulness expert Jonni Pollard, he describes the importance of reflecting on the past to consider “how can we apply what we know now to what we didn’t then.” The past, as he points out, could be something that happened as recently as fifteen minutes ago. Thinking about the past gives us a chance to learn from our successes and our failures.
3. Foresight into the Future
In their handbook on Character Strengths & Virtues, Positive Psychology thought leaders Martin Seligman and Chris Peterson describe Aristotelian phronesis as a “farsighted concern and planning for the distant future.” What makes wisdom “practical” is when heeding it turns out better for us in the long run.
4. Self-Awareness
In Yuval Noah Harari’s new book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, he warns that it is more important than ever for us to understand the inner workings of our minds. Large corporations and governments are using algorithms to “hack” the human mind. When an algorithm knows us better than we know ourselves, we are in trouble. The key to self-awareness, according to Harari, is meditation: spending time observing what goes on in your own head.
5. Sleep
This one might surprise you. But the technology companies are competing with sleep. And they are getting better at keeping us awake to get more views on their content. Greg McKeown, in his recent best-seller Essentialism, says, “one hour more of sleep equals several hours of much higher productivity.” A rested mind makes better decisions, and practical wisdom is all about making good decisions. “Our highest priority,” says McKeown, “is to protect our ability to prioritize.”
Wisdom has always been more valuable than knowledge, but that has never been truer than it is today. In the modern world, information is free and knowledge is cheap. But wisdom is as priceless as it has ever been.