I have to admit…I consume a lot information.
It is part of our culture to consume information, whether we know it or not. But what I consume is atypical from the average American. The only tv I watch is sports and the occasional movie or show. I average about an hour of tv per day (except on Sundays, when I watch a full football game with friends/family). So what do I do with my spare time? I read and listen – a lot. I feel like a sponge, continually soaking up new information via articles, books, podcasts, and audiobooks. Most of the time it could be useful information too, not just entertainment, if only I gave it direction/purpose. But having this newfound knowledge and actually doing something with it are completely different things. People have done far more than I have with less knowledge.
You need to decide, are you going to be a hoarder of knowledge, but not do anything with it? How can you be intentional with not only what you’re learning, but how to use what you’re learning? How can you slow down/make time to produce something from what you’ve learned?
Learning new things is not a bad thing – it’s actually a very good thing. But make sure there is a balance between how much you are consuming and how much you are producing. At some point, you need to start producing value too (using what you’ve learned), otherwise you’re wasting your talent.
Question: What’s the difference between you (someone who reads maybe 25-30 books per year) and someone who doesn’t read at all?
Answer: It depends on what you do with that knowledge. If you use it to make a difference in your life, the difference could be staggering (in a good way). If you don’t use that knowledge for anything other than bragging rights, the difference can also be staggering (in that there is no difference, other than you might feel “superior” to others).
Make sure that after every book you read, you set aside time to implement at least one thing that you learned from that book.