We Don't Grow Unless We Produce.
We can read all the books we want or watch all the YouTube videos, but we won't truly grow until we produce work of our own and share it with the general public. It's that simple.
Consuming information is a necessity for knowledge acquisition. However, we run the risk of over-consumption, mindless consumption, and wasting time running down rabbit holes. And worst of all this addiction turns into a harbinger of safety. We get too comfortable and play it safe. We think if I just learn one more thing or have that thing, our lives will be set. Wrong. This perpetual learning is not where the magic is.
The magic is in the application of knowledge and information. Application is the alchemy needed to turn information into gold. Through constant practice and application we truly learn. The feedback we get from putting our work out there is so much more beneficial than passively learning one more thing. Performance and production and sharing it with the world is where life is at. This creation and experience loop is the essence of being human– not sitting in a room, reading all day, keeping everything to yourself, with no application or practice.
So how can we stop being perpetual students as it were?
1) Learning for a purpose. Pick a project and focus only on that one thing. This committed focus will help stop the passive and endless learning mode. Read on the one aspect. Then, apply it immediately.
2) Limit your information intake to time and immediacy. Ask your self: "Will this information help me today?" Set a time limit on consumption and learning; say one hour of learning for at least two hours of producing.
3) Share your work. It takes courage to declare a piece of work as finished and then show it. Even if you deem it not perfect. The feedback you will receive is invaluable for future projects. Or maybe you even learn that a certain thing is not for you. But at least you were brave enough to have go through the full process. And that in itself is a massive lesson. The feeling of letting go of a creation is priceless. Once the weight is off you gain so much clarity. It's empowering. This is where we truly gain the meaning of life. Of creating.
The world doesn't need mass hoarders of knowledge and information. It needs your unique gifts. True comfort is on the other side of fear. Be brave. Be invulnerable in your vulnerability. Pivot from consuming information to creating experiences. And watch your life unfold in an incredible way. That's living.