“Wisdom does not come overnight.” -Kenyan Proverb
It is a simple reminder that wisdom is gained through experience, patience, and learning over time.
In a culture obsessed with speed — fast results, instant gratification, quick fixes — this proverb brings us back to reality. Wisdom is slow. It’s not something you can download, buy, or binge-watch your way into. It’s something you grow into, piece by piece, choice by choice, over time.
There are no shortcuts to deep understanding or mastery in leadership and life. Research even supports this. Psychologists studying “life-span wisdom” have found that wisdom isn’t about IQ or knowledge alone. It’s about perspective, empathy, and the ability to hold life’s paradoxes — joy and pain, certainty and uncertainty, strength and vulnerability — at the same time. And those skills don’t develop in a hurry.
MAGNUS Dare of the Day
Practice “slow wisdom.” For one day, commit to pausing before you respond:
Before answering a text.
Before reacting in a conversation.
Before making a decision.
Why it Works: Slowing down makes space for reflection, which is where wisdom takes root.