Tag: reading

Taking action – doing, not just thinking about doing

“You should know now that a man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting. A man of knowledge chooses a path with heart and follows it.” – Carlos Castaneda in “A Separate Reality”

Take action today. It’s great to read, listen to podcasts, and brainstorm ideas, but at the end of the day, if you don’t take action on all of that knowledge, you’re basically in the same place as someone who didn’t spend (waste?) that time learning. There will be no measurable difference between you and that person. The main differences will be that you might be able to offer some input to others who are looking to take action and also that you’ve wasted a lot of time not doing something actually productive.

Reading vs doing and the 10,000 hour rule

I love the idea of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hours. Basically, if you want to “master” anything, you have to put in the work and deliberately practice for roughly 10,000 hours.

One way to accelerate that timeline without experiencing all of the setbacks is by reading where others have tried and failed, what they learned, what their best practices are, things to keep in mind, etc. That’s why reading is so important. Even though it’s not the same as doing (and you typically don’t retain as much reading about something versus doing it), you can still add to your skill set by learning as much through books when you are unable to learn by doing.

Whenever you have the means to do something though (whether that is not having time, money, or energy constraints), then do it. Make a plan and intentionally follow through with that plan. There is no substitute for doing. You can have a good understanding of a subject by reading about it, but if you never do it (and preferably teach it too), then you will never truly master it.

Are you smart?

Being good at school is not the same as being smart. You can memorize the right answers but not understand how something works. I was very good at memorizing growing up. But I mistook memorization and good grades for being smart and knowing something. I knew the right answer, but I didn’t always know how to get there. I wasn’t thinking critically, and there is a big difference between knowing an answer and knowing something so well that you not only know the answer, but how to get the answer, can explain it in different ways, and understand the concept.

Slow down when reading

“To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.” – Edmund Burke

I used to do exactly this. In my conquest for self-improvement, I tried to consume as much information as quickly as possible. Podcasts and audiobooks on 1.5x speed, trying to read as many physical books as I could within a given time period, watching YouTube videos relevant to my field of study, etc.

But what I unintentionally missed was that, if I didn’t slow down and contemplate on what I just read, I didn’t dig deep enough to truly understand the whole idea. I understood basic concepts and surface level ideas, but couldn’t clearly articulate them. If you want to master something, you have to know it inside and out. And if you’re only going for volume/high quantity, you’re missing out on the true knowledge (quality). Dig deeper to understand more. Question what you read, don’t take it at face value. Play devil’s advocate. What would someone who supports that idea say? What would someone who disagrees with that idea say? What evidence is there to verify this idea and was that evidence cherry-picked or is it an accurate reflection of the truth?

The point here is to not rush to check another book off of your reading list. Slow down. If you’re reading to learn, then do it right the first time. Take your time, read, reflect, question, answer, discuss, and continue reading.

Strategy is the determining factor for dreams and nightmares

Without hard work, a great strategy remains a dream. Without a great strategy, hard work becomes a nightmare.
“Without hard work, a great strategy remains a dream. Without a great strategy, hard work becomes a nightmare.” – James Clear

Nothing will get done without someone rolling up their sleeves and making it happen.

Reading about ideas isn’t very difficult, although not nearly as many people read as they should.

Thinking about ideas is a little harder, as you have to give yourself time to think and permission to think of ideas that may fail on the first several iterations.

Actually working to complete an idea is the hardest. A lot of people read about ideas or talk about ideas, but never act on them. Taking action is the hardest of the three and usually requires the most effort.

But, while I agree that working hard will help take you far, what if you’re working towards the wrong thing?

If you don’t have the right strategy, your work ethic can only take you so far. You are only as good as your strategy.

For example, say you want to build a business. You can work really hard at building your website, making a logo, looking into forming an LLC, and interviewing an assistant, but if you haven’t come up with a strategy to find customers, you’re going to fail. In this scenario, you can easily put in 40, 60, or even 80 hours per week and not see any results that are helping to keep your startup in business.

Figure out what is important to you (what your goals are) and then come up with a relevant strategy to help support those goals. Otherwise all of your hard work will become a nightmare.