Endless consumption of content can only take you so far.
I think it’s good for helping get a grasp on what people think and believe about a domain, but once you’ve taken in a sufficient amount, you need to step back and form some of your own opinions.
This is a lesson I’m learning in real-time. At this point, I’m coming to a place where MOST of what I see is a repeat or rehash. The amount of genuinely NEW ideas being put into the world is relatively low and hard to find.
You can view this as a blessing or a curse. I see it as an opportunity. It’s time to start consuming less and producing more.
Also, endless consumption leads to another problem: Discontentment.
At some point you become so dissatisfied because you normally follow people who are “better off” (in whatever way is meaningful) than you. The solution is more original thinking and taking stock of your own situation, then applying your beliefs to start seeing the results you want.
So I’m a huge advocate for learning. But the only learning that matters is that which is applied.
Most people think application means “using” what you’ve learned. I disagree. I think of learning as a method of forming a personal knowledge base. Once you have that, you can query new ideas against it and come to a new conclusion that forms a belief.
“Using” information, for me, happens before I actually do anything. It is used when it is stored in my knowledge base and compared against the existing knowledge within. Once a new belief is formed, then I can apply that belief to what I am doing.
After a time, it becomes clear what kind of knowledge is the most useful for you. For example, because my knowledge base is overflowing, I’ve taken in knowledge many ways, and have learned that my favorite kind of learning (and the kind for which I have LOTS more capacity right now) is biographical. Reading biographies of leaders and individuals who’ve done interesting things and have interesting ideas.
What begins to happen when you take in too much, though, is you start to see repeating patterns. You get to the point where a substantial percentage of the knowledge you consume already exists, even if in a little different form, in the knowledge base.
That’s a good sign that it’s time to slow down and put the knowledge base to work, churning out new beliefs and ideas. The good news is, naturally slowing down your conscious consumption allows your subconscious to do the other work. It’s the ultimate delegation.
And I think you’ll find that once you consume less content, you’ll be more content in your life. Because you’ll finally be applying what YOU believe based on what you’ve learned.
