You Can’t Fill a Cup That is Already Full…

How can you learn more if you know everything?

I want to take a minute to tell an interesting story that has struck a chord with me. It’s an old story about a reporter and a monk.

The story goes something like this. There was a reporter who was very interested in Buddhism. He studied Buddhism for years and considered himself an “expert” on the topic, despite having never actually met a Buddhist monk.

One day, he got the chance to fly across the world and meet a real Buddhist monk.

When they sat down, the reporter immediately started telling the monk everything he knew about Buddhism. He’s going on and on and on, acting like he knows everything there is to know. Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes… Meanwhile, the monk has said nothing the entire time.

During this time, the monk sets down two cups on the table for tea.

As the reporter continues to talk, the monk starts pouring the tea into the glass. As the reporter continues to speak, he eventually realizes there is liquid pouring all over his legs. The monk continues to pour the tea into the cup, even as it overflows and pours all over the table and onto the reporter’s legs.

Finally, the reporter stops and asks the monk, “What are you doing?!”

The monk replies, “You can’t fill a cup that is already full.”

What does it mean?

Even though this story might sound a little out there, there’s a valuable lesson behind it.

The reporter was acting like he knew everything there is to know about Buddhism. And judging by his actions, he really thought that to be true. Of course, this is ridiculous because he’s talking to an actual Buddhist monk. Clearly, the Buddhist monk knows more about Buddhism than he does.

But that didn’t matter, because the reporter felt as if he knew everything there was to know. His cup was already full.

The monk was trying to show the reporter that he wasn’t opening himself up to new information. He could have gained an incredible amount of knowledge from that Buddhist monk, but it was impossible for the monk to share anything with him because the reporter’s “cup” was already full. And you can’t fill a cup that is already full, meaning you can’t teach someone who thinks they already know everything.

Your cup should never be full

We’re all smart. We’ve all acquired knowledge and had amazing experiences throughout our lives.

But no matter how smart you are or how much you think you know, you have to continue to be open to new information. You must allow yourself to continue to gather new knowledge throughout your life. Your cup should never be full because your cup can’t ever be full. There will always be new information available to you and you need to take advantage of it.

I’ve been a victim of this myself. Sometimes, I feel like I know everything there is to know about real estate. This story helped remind me that sometimes I need to take a step back and realize that I’m not an expert in everything. Even when I think I know everything there is to know, I probably don’t.

I will always be learning more about real estate. Even though I run a real estate coaching business, I still acknowledge the fact that I don’t know everything there is to know about real estate. Because no one ever will!

That is why I put such an emphasis on being a lifelong learner. If you want to improve your life, your business, and make more money—you need to be constantly learning. It’s that simple.

So, are you keeping your mind open? Have you ever had a moment where you acted like the reporter in this story? Are you open to learning more about real estate and business?