When we look to the successful people around us, we have a tendency to ask: What do they know that I don’t?

The question is so common and so ingrained that we may not even realize we’re asking it of ourselves. Without realizing it, we look at the success of others and make a judgment that they must know something we don’t.

When you speak with successful entrepreneurs and salespeople, however, you realize that they don’t see their success as the result of training, or education, or vast stores of knowledge. They don’t see themselves as knowing more.

They see themselves as doing more.

What The Drive to Know More Really Means

While it’s true that knowledge is a powerful asset, more often than not our sense that we need to know more is a smokescreen for something we’re unwilling, or unable, to acknowledge.

When we tell ourselves we need to do more research, or learn more, or “get ready,” we’re often really covering up feelings like:

– I don’t know what to do next
– I’m feeling anxious and I just want to bury my head in the sand
– I’m overwhelmed
– I’m scared to do what it takes

We cover these uncomfortable truths by saying, “I need to know more to move forward,” but the result is that we find ourselves ever further from where we want to be. 

I call this belief the Knowledge Myth. It’s a trap that fools us into believing that success is the result of knowing more and more, but in fact, it only fools us into doing less and less.

Turning Knowing More Into Doing More

The cure for the Knowledge Myth, of course, is to take action. 

Next time you find yourself looking at others and believing you need to know more, stop and ask: Do they really know something I don’t? Or are they doing something I won’t? The answer may surprise you.

Success, after all, doesn’t come from knowing what to do. It comes from doing what we already know.

To learn more about the seven myths that stand between you and success, you can read a free excerpt of Deliver the Unexpected here or learn more about the book here.