“Knowledge is power”. We’ve all heard that before, but I don’t buy this saying. I have a new one for you…

“KNOWLEDGE DOES NOT EQUAL POWER WITHOUT THE COURAGE TO USE IT!”

This hub is just as much reinforcement for me as it is for anyone else who reads it. I’ve heard the saying, “A jack of all trades, but a master of nothing” and whoever came up with that is absolutely right. We can spend our time absorbing all the books that contain all the information in the world until we have all the knowledge, but if we don’t use what we learn…we’re better off being idiots.

Take for example, a man with a brain full of trivia answers. He worked as a software engineer and I’m sure he made decent money doing that, but he decided to use his wealth of trivia and appeared on a game show 74 times in a row. That man’s name is Ken Jennings, and if you’ve never heard of him, just know that he won $2,522,700 playing on Jeopardy. The point here is that all the knowledge that he amassed was worth over $2 million and he used his knowledge to cash in on it.

Then there’s a man who grew up in Brooklyn. He made money by hustling drugs and there are many who choose to only live that life, but the main thing is that there’s always a choice. This man decided to use his knowledge of hustling and his lyrical prowess and started an independent rap label with 2 friends. That label was Roc-a-Fella records and that man is Shawn Carter, better known as Jay-Z. Today, 11 years after he helped start his label, he is now the CEO of Def Jam Records and his assets include a highly successful clothing line called Rocawear, Armadale vodka, a New York club, and he owns a part of the New Jersey Nets. Your location does not equal your destination and Carter’s life is proof of that, but only because he uses what he knows.

There will always be many more stories of people who possess great knowledge and have the courage to use it only to enjoy the rewards that their courage has reaped. On the flip side, there will also be many more stories of people who possess great knowledge, but didn’t have the courage to use it and ultimately squandered away their opportunity. You might not have knowledge of trivia, or the mind of a hustler, but whatever brand of knowledge that you do possess…don’t be afraid to use it. If you do find the courage to use it, chances are you’ll be one of the people that others get motivated from…otherwise, you’ll just be one of the ones needing motivation.