Learning in itself doesn’t yield huge returns. Action is what makes the learning count.
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My friends are reading more and more.
In their quest to become better business people they’re buying more online courses, watching more instructional YouTube videos, and listening to more informational podcasts. They’re opting into more email lists. They’re subscribing to more online magazines. They’re consuming more information.
And they’re reading more and more books.
One commonly cited statistic is that one-third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. Just less than half of college graduates never read another book after college. As interesting as that is, I couldn’t find the research to back that claim—please share if you have it. However, I did find a 2014 Pew Research Center report that notes that more than 75 percent of Americans 18 and older have read a book within the previous 12 months.
Regardless of the conflicting claims about reading, I know one thing for certain. My own friends are reading more.
The great Jim Rohn once noticed, “Poor people have big TV’s. Rich people have big libraries.”
There are more ways to learn now than when Rohn made his observation, but the sentiment hasn’t changed. Investing in yourself is the best possible investment you can make. Spending money on personal growth through books, courses, and other opportunities can reap you huge returns. It’s what I preach, and it’s what I practice.
But there’s a catch. Learning in itself doesn’t lead to those huge returns. We must take action to make the learning count.
Learning is like eating.
Our lives would be miserable and unhealthy if all we did was eat all day every day, never left the kitchen table, and never worked out. Unfortunately, this is what we tend to do when we consume too much content without taking enough action.
I quickly became the person with a growing library of books I never read. My shelves looked so beautiful.
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I love books.
And I love online courses, conferences, and podcasts. At the core, I simply love learning. My mind was first opened to the power of reading when I noticed each of my mentors reading books. I picked up the books they read, which led to picking up on their reading habits. Books brought new information, thoughts, and perspective.
They also brought a boost to my ego.
Books made me feel smarter than everyone else. I laugh at it now, but I remember being intentional about carrying a book wherever I went. I wanted people to notice that I read. Maybe, I thought, they’d sing my praises and give me a million dollars. There’s always a chance, right?
I quickly became the person with a growing library of books I never read. My shelves looked so beautiful. I loved it when my fraternity brothers would compliment my library, but was always nervous that they’d ask me what a book was about.
“I don’t want to ruin it for you,” I’d say. “Why don’t you read it and tell me your takeaways? Oh, and you’re welcome, brother!”
Eventually I noticed that my personal library was the perfect reflection of my personal lifestyle. I realized I was a faker. I would buy books to create a façade of intelligence and success. As the new books collected dust, I’d buy newer books to keep up appearances.
Taking action isn’t exclusive to special people; it’s what makes people special.
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That was a tough pill to swallow, but I’m glad I did. I committed to reading every book in my library before buying another book. It was time to take action in every aspect of my life. That’s when I began to experience the growth every book talks about.
My mindset shifted from being a sitter to a doer.
The first decision to act was to simply read the books. The second decision to act was what made the learning worth it. I read the books and applied what I learned. That’s when I realized why my successful mentors all read. They didn’t read because it made them feel smarter than everyone else. They read because they wanted to take better action afterwards which is what set them apart from the pack. We can all learn from that.
Taking action isn’t exclusive to special people; it’s what makes people special.
Have you ever heard of paralysis by analysis? It’s what happens when we think too much and act too little. Similarly, information overload It’s when you’ve consumed too much information to digest. In other words, we sit at the kitchen table for too long.
This is what happened to me, and this is what’s happening to my friends. They want to be successful. They want to invest in themselves. And I’m sure you have similar aspirations. But they’re not taking enough action on their new knowledge. Are you?
Pick up book, read book, put down book, take action.
You’ll love how this story ends.
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Photo: Flickr/Alexandre Dulaunoy