The argument in brief
The question
Why does knowing more so rarely lead us to change?
The claim
Knowledge alone rarely drives personal change. Self awareness gives the initial spark, but we also need to give ourselves permission to look honestly at ourselves and change our priorities. Confidence: A personal reflection and a hunch. No studies are cited.
The evidence
  • A remark from a Diary of a CEO episode with Simon Sinek, whose exact wording I have not checked against the recording.
  • My own experience: a performance coach told me in our first session that being knowledgeable didn't mean I would put it into action.
  • My own reasoning about why we might withhold permission: discomfort, obligation to others, fear of how they would see it, and stress.
The best counter
The gap between knowing and doing may be less about self awareness or permission and more about habits, environment and circumstance. Some people change without much introspection, and introspection can turn into rumination.
What would change my mind
Evidence that people who are more self aware are no more likely to act on what they learn, or that changing habits and surroundings closes the gap without any introspection.
Open gaps
1 gap. Statements I haven't verified yet. Each is marked in the text.

The questionWhy does knowing more so rarely lead us to change?In a podcast episode between Steven Bartlett and Simon Sinek, the topic of self awareness came up in the context of personal improvement. Steven says:

People can read as many books as they like, but if they’re unable to read themselves they’ll never really learn a thing.Gap · unchecked quoteI haven’t checked the exact wording against the recording of the episode.

This stands out because we live in a world where information is so dense, and so easily accessible, that we can become knowledgeable in almost any area but fail to change.

I had the opportunity to work with a performance coach, and in our first session he said to me that I’m a very knowledgeable person, but that doesn’t mean I’ll put it into action.

While my why is to inspire a generation of thinkers and doers, what it really comes down to is figuring out how to allow knowledge to drive change. Self awareness may be key to this discovery.

Knowledge is the easy part

An assumptionI am assuming technical skills and personal change are different in kind. Many technical skills also stall without practice and motivation, so the line may be blurrier than I make it.Learning a technical skill through knowledge is relatively straightforward. Start at the beginning, follow the steps, and voilà, you have acquired a new skill.

But what about changes that help us be happier, healthier and a better human being for the ones we love? This is a lot harder. It requires us to get uncomfortable with ourselves. And I feel self awareness is key to achieving this.

Permission

Permission. This is a thought that I keep circling back to. Claima hunch from my own experience; I haven't tested itI think it’s possible that what we lack is the ability to give ourselves permission. Permission to introspect ourselves, in an honest and constructive way, to find the root cause and the root motivation of what we need to do.

A competing explanationThe gap between knowing and doing may owe more to habits, environment and circumstance than to self awareness or permission. Some people change without much introspection, and introspection can also turn into rumination.So why do we lack permission? This can be for a variety of reasons. One might be that our self esteem simply wants to avoid being uncomfortable. Another might be an obligation to someone else, and we don’t want to disappoint them. There may be a fear of how they would perceive it, as it would be asking them to make a sacrifice. Stress can be a signalling factor. To give ourselves the thinking space when stressed can be hard, as we’re unable to clear our mind properly.

I don’t think it’s just a case to “become more self aware”. I think the question is deeper. Yes, we need the initial spark to introspect, but taking action and actually doing it has a lot more nuance. And we need to give ourselves permission to dig deeper.

The ah-ha moment

What would change my mind?Evidence that more self-aware people are no more likely to act on what they learn, or that changing habits and surroundings closes the gap without introspection.Ask yourself if you’re chasing new knowledge but not really putting it into action. Is it because you lack a self awareness to read a more truthful understanding of your situation? And even when you are self aware, are you giving yourself permission to change your priorities to make use of this new knowledge?

Books behind this essay

Not sources for any claim here. These are books I have finished that shaped how I think about this question. Where I rely on evidence, it is cited in the text.

The whole shelf