For over fifty years, I have tied my shoes the same way.
Then while getting a shoeshine at the airport, the shoe shiner told me that I didn't have to double tie them in order to keep my shoelaces well-tied.
He said that if I tied my laces by looping the lace under, rather than over the loop, I would tie a "square knot" that would hold. Every sailor knows how to tie a square knot but it took fifty years for this knowledge to get to me.
Just like tying your shoes correctly, there are many principles in life that we don't know, we don't know.
For example, we have all heard the sayings, "It's not what you know but who you know that achieves success" and "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" but most of us still believe in the myth of individualism. We embrace this myth and go about our lives believing that it is solely up to us to achieve success---without depending on the help of others to get what we want. Yet, as hard as we try, we can't seem to get it done alone.
The book, "Achieving Success Through Social Capital: Tapping Hidden Resources in Your Personal and Business Networks" by Wayne E. Baker explains that it's not just what you know (but that plus who you know) that determines your success in life. The book proves that the myth of individualism keeps us from using our personal and business networks to gain the resources we need to excel in life.
Through reading Dr. Wayne Baker's book (based upon principles like the "small-world principle" and the "Law of Reciprocity"), I found out about things I didn't know existed and how to use them to improve my life.