Is your brain a landfill or a garden?
Is your brain a landfill or a garden?
Stop consuming. Start growing.
There’s a high cost for consumption. You earn cash to pay for material goods, right?
Not exactly.
When trading time for wages, you're actually spending life hours, not just money, every time you make a purchase.
The same goes for information. Every time you consume a book, podcast, video, you consume your life hours.
Now I know what you’re thinking.
“𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦.”
But is it?
Unless you turn the information into knowledge, by internalising it and connecting it to what you know, it’s just consumption.
𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗹𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 (𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲) 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲, 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.
And unless you reflect on your achievement, failures, and experiences you’ll never get the wisdom and growth you’re really seeking.
Too many people get stuck in the information and knowledge acquisition stages - that’s why they don’t make real progress.
Now, don’t get me wrong.
I consume for enjoyment and relaxation. I listen to music, train my dog, shoot the breeze … all with no ulterior aims for growth.
𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗜 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴.
And I appreciate that some information and knowledge come in handy in a completely different context.
𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐’𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.
Here’s how I’ve changed my information consumption process:
𝟭. 𝗔𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘁 - I was shocked how much I consumed that I had no intention of applying. Info-porn was reduced radically.
𝟮. 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 - choosing one area where I want progress and doing it with what I already had, acquiring new information only when I got stuck.
𝟯. 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 - I read a lot. Now, before starting, I decide how to internalise, apply, and reflect on the experience.
4. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱-𝗗𝗼-𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 - for every 45 minutes consumption I spend at least the same on application and reflection. What does this mean? How will I apply it? Did it enhance me?
You can start today: What's one piece of knowledge you can turn into action right now? Clue … it’s right in front of you. Right now.