Many people confuse knowledge with ability. Knowledge is something you acquire through learning, but ability is the skill you gain through practice. Almost everybody can acquire knowledge, but not everyone can turn knowledge into good, practical use.

A professor may be an expert in the subjects that he teaches, but he may be completely helpless in the real world when he tries to put his knowledge into practice. Knowledge doesn’t guarantee success. To succeed, you must know how to turn theoretical knowledge into practical use.

Be creative in whatever you do. Turn ordinary work into extraordinary performance, a masterpiece. Adopt an attitude that everything you do must be ‘better than best’. It is this attitude that makes an ordinary person extraordinary. This is artfulness in application.

We all have heard of Pele, Magic Johnson, and Tiger Woods. What made Pele so special in soccer, Magic Johnson in basketball, and Tiger Woods in golf? They all have one thing in common: the attitude of wanting to be the best in their fields. To be the best, they must work harder and train harder than their competitors. They must master their skills and keep refining and perfecting them. This requires an uncompromising discipline and the determination to overcome all barriers. To be the best, you must think like the best, work like the best, and win like the best. Just the skill of kicking a football, or shooting hoops, or hitting a golf ball (which is something everyone can do) can turn into mega fortunes for these champions. This is not a fluke. It is the result of their discipline, their artistry in what they do, and their unwavering determination for success. Even a game for fun can be made into a serious profession if one is artistic and skilled enough to make the difference.

The person who is artistic is one who knows how to apply knowledge into practical and beneficial use. There is a success story about a woman in Thailand who loved to cook. She enjoyed cooking so much that she started a small food stand as a hobby, selling street food to passersby. She mastered the art of her cooking so well that her little food stand soon became very popular. Customers from all around came to eat her food and the number of customers kept growing. Before long, her little food stand became a real restaurant. Today, her restaurant is one of the most successful and well-known restaurants in Thailand, with several restaurant locations in Thailand and other countries—and it all began as a mere hobby. The love for cooking done with artistry has turned a little hobby into a major business enterprise.

If you want to transform your academic knowledge into artful application, the following qualities must be present:

1. Believe in what you do. You have to feel good about what you do, or you won’t do it with enthusiasm and confidence. It is more rewarding to choose a career that is moral and beneficial than one that is unethical or dishonorable. 2. Not breaking good moral conduct. Avoid any activities that are indecent or cause harm or suffering to others. 3. Avoid arrogance and boastfulness. No one wants to accept someone who is boastful as an apprentice. No one likes people who are arrogant. Arrogance will alienate you from your peers. 4. Avoid laziness. If you have only knowledge but are too lazy to do anything with it, all you will end up with is knowledge and no performance. You must work hard to acquire, to improve upon, and to perfect your skills. 5. Cultivate wisdom. Wisdom is the combination of knowledge, understanding and experience. Be observant. Seek out the good and useful characteristics of the things around you. Benefit from new knowledge, new techniques and new methods. Keep your eyes open for quicker, smarter, more efficient and more cost-effective ways of doing things. 6. Apprentice yourself to an expert. Seek out a master in the field that you go after and apprentice with him or her. Learn the skills from the person. 7. Cultivate your mind. Systematic thinking and observation can be developed through a mind that is well-trained. Meditation is the most effective way torefine and train the mind. Creativity comes to a mind that is bright and clear. 8. Maintain good health. Don’t bring unnecessary harm to your body or physical health. Without good health, your body and your mind will not function at full potential.

Think like an artist. Treat everything you do as if it’s a work of art. Turn the mundane into the exceptional. Create a beauty out of everything you do.

By being artistic you will become more skillful than others in what you do. Your work will make the difference and will separate you from the ordinary. You will be sought after by others. Success in your career will be assured, and you will have the ability to make a good living. The higher standards that you set for your work can become an important contribution to the progress and culture of your society and the world.

Anything worth doing is worth doing well