Get Cool with Admitting What You Don't Know

A good friend of mine is a history professor at one of the top universities in the country. He has every degree, title, and award under the sun. 

So I was surprised one afternoon when he told me, "The more you learn the more you realize how much you don't know." I found his discovery not only enlightening, but also courageous. 

Here was a guy who could effortlessly call from memory dates of battles, treaties, the details of landmark court cases, and the framework of the Constitution. Yet he still admitted there was a great deal he would never know.  

How many times have you nodded your head "yes" when someone asked if you were versed on a topic you weren't at all familiar with? And why were you so afraid of admitting you didn't know something?

I know for a long time I'd try to hide my ignorance on a topic for fear of being excluded, or being thought of as uninformed. But the older I get the more I realize there's actually strength in vulnerability and in admitting you don't know something. It reveals not only honesty, but integrity.

And when we admit we don't know something we can then take the steps necessary to remedy it if we so choose.