It’s time for a little bit of tough love because I see people doing this all the time and it drives me crazy. How do I know? Because I was guilty of it myself. And hey, I still do – it’s a tough habit to break!
Are you addicted to information?
Come on…you know you are. Reading business how-to books, following trendsetter web sites, the leading business blogs, listening to teleseminars and podcasts, attending big-ticket seminars?
But what good is information unless you use it? On his way to the Senate, Julius Caesar was warned about the plot against him. That’s valuable information! What did he do with it? Nothing. What happened? Let’s just say he should have listened.
Did you know? (This statistic just drives me crazy)
90% of people who attend a seminar, listen to a podcast, read a business book, take a home-study course do absolutely nothing with that information! ZERO.
So really you’re worse of because you #1: wasted your time, #2: wasted your money (because rarely are these things free), and #3: feel guilty about #1 and #2.
Why bother? Seriously!
So instead of sitting in that uncomfortable chair, freezing your buns off, scribbling notes that you never look at later, much less implement, go get a pedicure and refresh and rejuvenate.
It will boost your business more than wasting your time on stuff you’re never going to do anyway because if you’re anything like me, you’ll feel GUILTY about the stuff you aren’t doing.
Take the implementation challenge!
Shift your thinking about information!
1: Quickly scan or read the summary to gauge if there’s anything of value to you today! If yes, place it in a learning queue until you have time to implement. If no, go get your hair done instead.
2: Read, listen, or participate with implementation in mind. Don’t take notes, create task lists, send out marching orders to your team, schedule in follow-up activities.
3: Implement the ideas FULLY and completely before moving onto the next resource in the queue. If that means missing an event, don’t worry. There will dozens more to follow!
Raise your right hand and repeat after me:
I solemnly pledge not to read anything, study anything, or participate in anything UNLESS I do something with the information IMMEDIATELY!
AND I promise not to consume any additional information until I have a chance to fully implement the new ideas in front of me – no if’s, and’s or but’s!
Please indicate your consent by adding your name to the comments!
38 Comments
Hi Carla, Okay–I'll do it! “I solemnly pledge not to read anything, study anything, or participate in anything UNLESS I do something with the information IMMEDIATELY!” 🙂
Great article, I'm guilty as charged so count me in!
Well, I'll make it official. This feels like renewing my pledge really but I'm glad it's written down in words.
I pledge to take action on some new material I just learned TODAY! Thank you for the much needed kick in the butt!
Yes, I'm in, but truthfully this article actually comforted me along a totally different line -that is feeling responsible for the results my buyers get. I've had people shake their finger at me and say, “NO WAY – You are responsible TO your clients, not FOR them.” But alas, that stuck me as a arrogant at the time. Now I realize it is more arrogant to think that somehow those who follow me will be different from the masses. Still – it my aim to at least get 20% to ingest and implement. I refuse to think that is too ambitious!
Ouch, you've caught me. I pledge not to read anything, study anything, or participate in anything UNLESS I do something with the information IMMEDIATELY!
Woo-HOO!
Awesome! That's the first step toward changing that habit!
In words sometimes makes ALL the difference! Now your job is to focus on consciously consuming information with the intention of implementing! If that means putting a book down half-way through, so be it! You can always pick it back up later!
Happy to give it! I'm told I'm a good butt-kicker! 😉
Woo-HOO! Send them here and make them take the pledge!
Thank you, Gina for pointing that out! We are responsible TO others in our lives, but not FOR them! That applies to many different situations – coaching included!
Have been guilty of this, but have been a little reformed this year. Not sure if that's the quallity of the information or my own clarity.You almost have to set limits for yourself or you get to a point where your brain is about to explode and you are so overwhelmed with all of the to-dos you have on your list (because you have learnt so much you should be doing!). I have no doubt I am addicted to learning, but I am learning the art of implementation! Chick Lit is much better bed time reading than a biz book!
Let yourself be okay with stopping half-way through to catch-up on implementation! Not only will this keep you accountable, it will keep you out of overwhelm!
Shift your thinking to ACTION, not researching! Take breaks from action to find out what you need to know instead of taking breaks from researching to take action!
YES! Overloading your brain and getting overwhelmed is the surest path to getting stuck! And yet we do it to ourselves over and over and OVER!
It's funny how we approach business education different from everything else in our lives. You wouldn't read a recipe book from cover to cover, expect to remember all the ingredients and steps and wait 7 years to cook them!
It doesn't make any sense! You scan the index, skim recipes to find something you fancy, pick one, read it in-depth and set about making it!
Learning que – Love it!!!!
I have definitely been guilty of learning things just to learn them at the time, but often that information comes in handy later. That could be me justifying the knowledge, because Im quite sure it doesn't always apply. But most of that for me is from books and online stuff since I don't go to conferences or meetups because my current job doesn't allow me to do so.
YIKES! Me too…… I see more pedicures in my future 🙂
I do this ALL the time! So much information that I'm afraid of missing! This is really great advice! Thx Carla!
As an Information Professional, this is what I do for client and now I need to do it for myself. Nothing will happen until actions are taken, nothing feels better than you know you are doing it for yourself. Thanks Carla, I'm totally in for the implementation !
Ummm, guilty…. (when I wrote this post I had over 700 pieces of info…now there are more than 900). http://oursafehaven.wordpress.com/2010/01/09/evernote-challenge/
Try to focus on things that are relevant now. If you are worried about missing out, switch to scanning and skimming and file what you don't have time to read by category.
Shifting from idea collecting to implementing will also take a lot of extra information weight out of your head and allow you to focus!
woo-HOO…more pedicures! The reward for breaking the information-junky habit!
Just trust that whatever information you need will always be available when you need it and focus on more doing.
woo-HOO Sara!
Doesn't it feel great to let yourself just relax and not take in new information until you are ready?
Oh this is so me. Ugh…when I think of the $$ I've spent on all this stuff.
But… I'm working on being a “reformed” info junkie. This past week I started unsubscribing from most of the email newsletters I get so I can tune out the “noise” and just get those that I actually benefit from. My inbox was unmanageable and this should help solve that problem!
My coach is wonderful at helping me implement things in baby steps so they are manageable and so that I see results pretty quickly. That's also helped me move into the doing and out of the thinking that I have to know everything before I can do anything.
Thanks for these ideas, and count me in!
Great reminder. I just attended a conference for bloggers only one item left on my implementation list and I WILL get to it this week.
Give yourself a break and take a step back to get stuff done!
Baby steps are KEY — and getting results will help you stay focused, motivated and keen to continue moving forward!
Time to invest in a pedicure!
Thank you for a great reminder about what we are responsible for. I am taking the pledge.
woo-HOO…that's awesome!
I find it easier to implement conference ideas if I leave myself a day to follow-up and prioritize what I learned — that way I get the value out of my investment!
(That and I sometimes start task lists and calendar action items right AT the conference!)
woo-HOO! Way to go, Debbi!
its not that I'm worried about missing out, I just like to read! But yeah, sometimes I need to not read something so closely and get to the important stuff, for sure.
Okay, okay. I take the pledge.
How did you know?…lol
I accept the challenge!
Soooo guilty of this recently.On my quest for the big change I became an info junkie. Granted I did score a new client because of it, but not exactly the big change, so I gave myself a butt kicking. Guess what?The big change found me and I'm on my way to making it stick. So, yes I affirm my commitment to stay off the info merry go round “UNLESS I do something with the information IMMEDIATELY!”
Great Advice!
Soooo guilty of this recently.On my quest for the big change I became an info junkie. Granted I did score a new client because of it, but not exactly the big change, so I gave myself a butt kicking. Guess what?The big change found me and I’m on my way to making it stick. So, yes I affirm my commitment to stay off the info merry go round “UNLESS I do something with the information IMMEDIATELY!”
Great Advice!
Soooo guilty of this recently.On my quest for the big change I became an info junkie. Granted I did score a new client because of it, but not exactly the big change, so I gave myself a butt kicking. Guess what?The big change found me and I'm on my way to making it stick. So, yes I affirm my commitment to stay off the info merry go round “UNLESS I do something with the information IMMEDIATELY!”
Great Advice!
Soooo guilty of this recently.On my quest for the big change I became an info junkie. Granted I did score a new client because of it, but not exactly the big change, so I gave myself a butt kicking. Guess what?The big change found me and I’m on my way to making it stick. So, yes I affirm my commitment to stay off the info merry go round “UNLESS I do something with the information IMMEDIATELY!”
Great Advice!
Great advice. I think of myself as a cat…I walk gently (read a lot/absorb/learn) then I POUNCE, often in dramatic fashion, often last minute with an adrenalin rush. (I got $1,000 of free services from a professional audio friend but had 7 DAYS to get 4 hrs of training written up… EVERYWHERE I could I was working: library with kids, at the mall, in restaurants, this momma was working her butt off to get the deadline met. It was probably the best thing ever to have a hard deadline from the audio and conference.) By the way, sold $3,300 in 3 days and my workshop proved my value! Woot!