“The saddest part of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” – Isaac Asimov

Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge, experience and insights to make good decisions. Proverbs 16 tell us that obtaining wisdom is more valuable than silver or gold.

Wisdom is far more beneficial than knowledge, though knowledge can be a stepping stone to wisdom. Knowledge can exist without wisdom. Head to any college campus to find plenty of examples. And wisdom can exist with little or no formal education.

I am always trying to gain wisdom because I know the more wisdom I have the better decisions I will make. The better decisions I make the better I life I can create for me, my family and everyone we encounter in this life.

I want to give you what I have found to be the three primary sources of wisdom. I’ll list my least favorite sources first and we can build up to what I find to be the best source.

Personal Experience

We have been learning through our personal experiences since we were born. Many parenting experts suggest we let our children learn from the natural consequences of their behavior.

Wisdom gained and lessons learned from personal experience are rarely forgotten. Why? Because we gained that wisdom at a high price. We made mistakes, we paid the price and is hard to forget your most expensive lessons.

The price of learning from personal experience is why this is my least favorite source of wisdom. The lessons can hurt and are often expensive. The lessons can leave scars! A much better way to gain wisdom is to seek it out from other sources.

Experiences of Others

Learning from the experiences of others is my second most favorite way to gain wisdom. Why would I want to fall into every ditch when a wise mentor can show me the way around the holes?

There are many ways to learn from others. We are learning from others when we read about their experiences. Today, we can follow wise people on the internet. Leaders today write blogs, host podcasts and put their wisdom on the web in a myriad of other ways. This wisdom is often free and can be consumed while you are in the car, on a run or working in the yard. I learn from audiobooks and podcasts while I run, travel and work in the yard. I do not have the time to sit down and read many books. Modern technology is a big win in this area!

I also love sitting down and learning from wise mentors. No podcast can replace time spent with a wise person who has been living and learning for a lot longer than I have. Great mentors are hard to find and spending in-person time is an investment for both parties. But, the time and the learnings are so valuable that I highly recommend mentors as a path to gaining wisdom.

The Bible

The Bible was not my go-to source for wisdom for most of life. I was raised to read and study the Bible at Sunday school, but I never appreciated the wisdom in it until later in life. After I had learned way too many lessons through personal experience, I began to see that the wisest advice I ever received tended to line up with what the Bible says about that topic. Now, I run all the advice and knowledge I encounter against the truth of the Bible.

Great sources of truth stand the test of the time and the Bible is my favorite. All religions have their sources and I have learned from many of them. Thankfully, people have been learning, living and writing about their experiences for a long time.

The more time I invest in learning from these sources of wisdom, the better my life seems to go.

What are your favorite sources of wisdom? I’d love to learn from you!

Curt Fowler is an organizational growth expert and President of Fowler & Company, a business advisory firm dedicated to helping leaders create and achieve a compelling vision for their organization. He has an MBA in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from the Kellogg School, is a CPA, and a pretty good guy as defined by his wife and four children.