“The possession of Knowledge, unless accompanied by a manifestation and expression in Action, is like the hoarding of precious metals-a vain and foolish thing. Knowledge, like Wealth, is intended for Use. The Law of Use is Universal, and he who violates it suffers by reason of his conflict with natural forces.” -The Kybalion
I broke the Law of Use.
What is “The Kybalion?” The Kybalion is a collection of hermetic teachings from ancient Egypt. These are some of the oldest teachings which has ever been taught from mankind.
In the book, you are taught several principles of life itself. Some of it is a bit “out there,” but other principles are quite practical.
The last principle, one which I have forgotten completely, is one which I have broken, and I have deeply suffered the consequences of it.
Let this be a warning for those who are stuck “learning,” but aren’t going out taking action.
The Law of Use
The law of use in layman’s terms states that knowledge acquired should be put to action. If you learn how to budget, you should make a budget and stick to it. If you learn how to approach girls, you should approach girls.
Now don’t take this out of context; obviously if I go up to you and say “hey here’s how to build a car” you shouldn’t build a car because some random “law of use.”
This applies for information you deem valuable to yourself, or which you seek out.
When you don’t immediately apply what you have learned, some terrible things begin to happen. It compounds over time & gets worse & worse. B
Story: Applying the Law of Use
When I first started digital marketing, I was highly action-orientated. That meant to start, I was having to soak in a ton of knowledge.
I watched video courses, took notes, and learned a lot. It was exhilarating!
Soon I began making video proposals, getting online contract work, and learning more about the ins and outs of freelancing as a digital marketer.
Within the year I was able to make money online while traveling the world.
When you actually apply the knowledge you learn and “get into the field,” your rate of success becomes exponential.
I am no genius; I just applied the law of use. And, I’m certainly not a genius, because I’ve also broken the Law of Use.
Story: Breaking the Law of Use
Sometime during my stay in Sofia, Bulgaria I began to “lose my edge.”
I stopped doing sales. I never created an Ecom store. I never sold anything more on Amazon.
This began to fucking eat away at my soul.
I knew I wasn’t living up to my full potential. The comfort was addicting yet poisonous. I felt a drive to grow, but I wasn’t growing.
Soon things began to fall apart in my life. While many bad things were 100% unavoidable, the strange thing is that had I applied the “Law of Use” I would’ve been 10x more prepared for the bad things to happen.
For example, I would not have had financial issues during Cyprus (after Bulgaria) or in Germany. Many problems would’ve ceased to exist, and I could’ve enjoyed these places to the fullest.
Instead I did not get to experience Cyprus how I wanted to. In Germany me & my then-girlfriend had to stay 2 nights in one AirBNB, 2 nights in another city, 10 days back in the old AirBNB, then one final night in another AirBNB just to save $.
Also, we got attacked by over 30 wasps & had no AC in the first 2 nights.
Would this have happened had I applied the Law of Use, grown my business, and then had money to properly taken care of us?
It gets worse.
The longer I went without taking action, the harder & scarier getting back into action would take.
To further compound the problem, people commended me on my current achievements, which is hardly anything, but compared to mainstream thinking I guess I’m living some exotic lifestyle.
This made me egoic & detached from reality. Because I had the knowledge of a person 10x more successful than myself, I could talk the game and impress everyone.
I began to live life in the fantasy realm, in my mind. Rather than creating a definite plan from getting “here to there,” I began to spend too much time thinking about what could be, what would be 5 years from now, and everything that I know- but not actually putting my fingers in the mud and creating this life.
It gets even worse. In the past month I’ve experienced emotions of jealousy, despair, negativity, hopelessness, and bad depression.
When you let yourself fail & feel helpless despite knowing what you know, it’s even worse than legitimately being in the shitty situation.
It gets worse, but you get the gist of it. Let me put it clearly: knowledge which doesn’t go to use will EAT AWAY AT YOUR SOUL.
And if you believe in mystical universal stuff (like I kind of do), then MAYBE you need to put the knowledge to use ASAP because of the coming changes in life!
Again, had I practiced the Law of Use in Bulgaria, things would be completely different. I violated the law, and the changing tides of life swept me away; I wasn’t as prepared as I could’ve been.
Repairing the Law of Use
So right now I’m trying to take action again, and I must confess it’s difficult.
I often feel a dark, heavy energy inside of me dragging me down. At the same time I’m learning how to relax & be in the present moment and accept the work I have to do. I’ve entered a flow state for the first time in months.
I feel quite anxious, about failure, being rejected, or completely fucking something up. This is all quite irrational, but I’ve been “out of the game for too long.”
When it comes to social circle & meeting people, I’m not “living on the edge either.” Before I put so much effort into meeting people, now I struggle with scheduling meetings (and being on time, sorry friends!!).
Video games have once again entered my life, which is never a good sign. Almost every time I start playing video games it means I’m getting dangerously depressed. Today I intend on deleting all of my video games- again.
Focusing is harder. Distractions are easier.
I feel like I’ve “lost my edge.” I feel like a dull knife, not “all there.” Going into “state” feels more difficult. I’m neither “on fully” or “relaxing fully.”
All that being said, the only way to repair the law of use is to apply the law of use. This is exactly what I’m trying my best to do now.
If you violate the law of use, you may find yourself trapped in “analysis paralysis” or simply have this nagging feeling of knowing that you could always “do more.”
This is your warning to get moving ASAP. If you don’t, there will be consequences.
The way you fix it is simple: you take action. Meet people. Work hard. Focus. Set goals. Achieve them. Fix your routine. Drop bad habits. Develop good ones. Read books.
It’s all a million times easier said than done. You can’t expect perfection of yourself, but you must try & fix this.
Final Warning
Knowledge without action is poison. Remember that.
This is your last warning today, do NOT violate the “Law of Use.” It will eat away at your soul. Put to action what you learn immediately.
