The methods to achieve the unity of knowledge and action are as follows:

1. Start with knowledge and action: do the right thing and do the right thing.

It is difficult to completely integrate knowledge and action, because we inevitably have selfish thoughts when doing some things, so it is difficult to cultivate our cognition and behavior all the time. For "knowledge", there is a word in psychology called metacognition, which means thinking about your thinking. You must reflect on your thinking to see if there are any selfish thoughts that have a bad impact. For "action", whether your behavior has an empirical part, you can constantly correct your behavior, use positive behavior to offset negative behavior, and gain more positive energy.

2. Start with knowledge: Only with good knowledge and good ability can you have good deeds.

Wang Yangming said that knowledge is the origin of the heart. If you know filial piety, you must be filial. When you see your parents, you will be filial. When you see your parents fall, you will naturally help them. When you see your brothers, you will naturally know to be respectful. When you see your children, you will naturally have compassion. These are consciences.

3. Start with action: continuous learning and investigation of things to gain knowledge.

Start with behavior and be good at exploring and researching. Acting with clear awareness and careful observation is knowing. Examining things leads to knowledge. Examining things is correct and things are things. Are things falling into place on the right grid? People who are careful and attentive in what they do can still understand things even if they don't study. Take filial piety as an example. You know how to keep your parents warm in winter and cool in summer, and to provide for them properly. This is knowledge; but it is not knowledge. Only when you do it is it called knowledge. Even if you do it, it is not enough; you must be sincere and do not violate your own rights. In the heart, this is called conscience.

Inconsistency between knowledge and action

1. Thinking about it but not doing it

Many times we think things are easy, but when we actually do it, we are careless. Or new situations and problems will always arise in the process of doing it. From the perspective of Yangming's Psychology, the final analysis is that you do not have a detailed understanding, true knowledge, or conscience, and do not fully understand the "oneness" of purpose and result, so you can't do it.

2. You did it but didn’t do it well

Many times you do it but don’t finish it. This is not really done. Or maybe you finished it, but the result was not what you expected, and you didn't achieve the multiple goals you expected. Obviously, there is no real knowledge guidance, no flexibility, or no passion and attitude in the process of doing it. The beauty of application lies in one mind.

3. I thought about it and did it but did not achieve the goal

I knew it, and I did it, but there is no one. It's like if you want to be filial to your parents, you prepare the meal and serve it to your parents, but you show displeasure. In fact, this is not true filial piety. You will say that you know and do it. You still don’t know, because this is the motive of filial piety, and parents care more about their heart. It is difficult to be kind and cheerful, but this is true filial piety.