Have you ever wondered what it truly means to understand something?

Memory vs. Understanding

When you read or hear a piece of information and can recite it, that’s merely memory.

This rote memorization is what most of us are taught in school: memorize the information for good grades.

However, true understanding delves much deeper than mere recollection.

The Nature of True Understanding

To truly understand something means to go beyond intellectualization, belief, and opinion.

It’s about exploring the problem rather than hastily trying to fix it.

It’s about seeking the truth instead of settling for wise words, techniques, or quick fixes.

Understanding isn’t a process; it’s an arrival.

It’s akin to hearing a profound truth for the first time.

Initially, you might dismiss it, but later, it dawns upon you as a great realization.

This is understanding.

It’s not about intellectualizing but genuinely feeling it.

It’s an innate realization, felt deep within, rather than a fleeting thought.

Signs of Genuine Understanding

• If you Understand the origins of your negative emotions and the purpose they serve you, you’ll get to a place where you empathize with them to such an extent that they lose their grip over you and cease entirely.
• If you Understand that your eyes see without you, and your ears hear without you, you’ll experience reality without the interference of thought. Your senses do not need your conscious thought to be aware of your environment. Like your heartbeat, it occurs automatically.
• If you Understand that only the present moment exists, and that past and future are merely thoughts created by the mind, you will automatically anchor in the now.
• When you genuinely understand your desires and aspirations, the path to achieving them becomes obvious.

The Power of Understanding

The beauty of understanding is its simplicity. There’s no technique to remember, no tactic to apply. For instance:

• You won’t need to “practice being present” when you realize that only this moment exists.
• Mindfulness becomes second nature when you understand that your senses don’t require conscious thought to perceive the environment.
• Achieving peak performance or “getting into the zone” becomes effortless when you recognize that thinking itself, the presence of the mind, is the very barrier.
• There’s no need to control or manage emotions when you Understand their purpose and origin.
• You don’t need to ‘count calories’ or ‘diet’ if you Understand that your body will tell you when it needs fuel through hunger.
• You don’t need ‘productivity hacks’ and ‘morning routines’ and ‘habits’ if you Understand what is actually Required to achieve what you want to achieve.

Naval Ravikant, an entrepreneur and thinker, once said, “The only test of intelligence in life is your ability to get what you want.” But it’s not just about attaining what you desire; it’s about discerning what’s truly worth desiring.

When I work with clients, whether it be an athlete or a business professional, we always go through the same few stages:

1. Understanding their current conditioning — their beliefs about themselves and the world, their current problems, what they have tried that has or hasn’t worked.
2. Understanding their True Desire — peeling back the layers of what they want, who they want to be, and more importantly, why.
3. Understanding what is Preventing Them — Understanding the limiting beliefs, the doubts, the anxieties, to such an extent that they cease to have any power. And Understanding the very few REAL, tangible barriers preventing them from getting what they want.
4. Elimination — Ruthlessly and Uncompromisingly Eliminating that which prevents them from achieving what they want to achieve, and being the best version of themselves.
5. Understanding the Conditions Required for the Inevitable Arrival of What They Want.

It’s a process that works, EVERY TIME. This is the power of Understanding.

I don’t give my clients more to think about. We make sure we get to a point where they completely Understand what they need to, so there’s NOTHING to think about.

Conclusion

Understanding is a powerful tool, often overshadowed by superficial activities that only give an illusion of progress. In your quest for knowledge and growth, will you settle for mere information, or will you seek genuine understanding?