There are two kinds of knowledge when it comes to fitness; general and specialized. General knowledge tends to be of little value when achieving your fitness goals. Knowing that weight lifting, for example, can help you lose weight is of little use by itself. Once you specialize your information to know that a full-body workout doing exercises such as crunches, bicep curls, or squats build muscle which require more energy which can then burn excess fat, then you can formulate a complete plan to achieve your goal.

Knowledge by itself is useless in the pursuit of fitness goals unless it's backed by a definite plan of action. Unused knowledge is only potential power. Putting specialized knowledge to work through written, definite plans powers the engine of your fitness goals.

The true definition of an educated person is not a large amount of general or specialized knowledge. Look in any university or college. There are plenty of professors with a huge amount of specialized knowledge and a student population gaining general knowledge. Rather, an educated person is one who can find the knowledge they need or find the people who have the knowledge they need and apply it in a coherent manner to achieve their goals.

That's the heart of specialized knowledge; if you don't have the knowledge you need, find it or find someone who has it. It's not important if you don't have the knowledge but it is important that you know how to find it.

Whatever fitness goal you have, determine what knowledge you need and the end to which it'll be used. As you gather this specialized knowledge it must be organized and put to use through a practical, written plan.

Those who are successful at improving their health and fitness never stop gathering specialized knowledge related to their current fitness goals. If you decide to start running and have never run before, determine first why you want to run. Then gather knowledge about reaching that goal.

What kind of shoes are best for your running? Are certain clothes better to wear than others? Is there information you should know about running related to your age? Can your neighbor down the road who runs marathons give you any tips?

Now that you've determined what information you need, have gathered it or gotten it from others, organized that information into a plan and then implemented it, your capability to achieve your goals becomes almost unlimited.

Capability means imagination, a quality that combines specialized knowledge with ideas in the form of organized planning to achieve goals; your fitness goals or any goal.

The next article in the series will cover Imagination, the Workhorse of the Mind.