Here is something I have been thinking about lately, how can I balance my love for consuming information with prolific, quality output?
There is no shortage of books, podcasts, articles, interviews, Facebook lives all offering a front row seat to some of the most thought-provoking conversations and ideas. But the challenge comes once you have absorbed new information, how do you ensure that you are taking action on the lessons learned to produce real results?
Learning is indeed a beautiful thing, when we are in the act, it makes us feel like we are moving forward and accomplishing something, but for the most part, learning is still just a passive action. For example, if I am trying to learn how to cook healthier meals, I may read books on effective cooking techniques, and review recipes that give me ideas of what to do, but until I do the work and apply the concepts, I am still starved of results.
Now, I am not saying learning is irrelevant, but that the cognitive and emotional facets of knowledge consumption are incomplete without the commitment to ongoing action. According to author Peter Brown in Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, he explains, “With reading, there is a Forgetting Curve - in short order, we lose something like 70% of what we just heard or read, then forgetting begins to slow until the last 30% falls away more slowly.” Every time you learn something new, you change the brain, but it does not just happen with reading and rereading. That’s only the first step. To complete the cycle of learning, you need to process the material to understand it, apply it, reflect on it, practice, and then repeat a few times until it becomes ingrained and easily retrievable.
Most people prefer to consume over create, according to Author Brooke Castillo, an average ratio hovers around 90% intake and 10% output. But what would it feel like if your ratio was 50/50? Imagine if every time you signed up for training, read a book, or learned a new concept, you applied it immediately. The experience would most certainly be transformational.
Let’s Explore Ways To Strike More Of A 50/50 Balance Between Learning And Applying:
1. Talk about what you are learning. In my case, I’m in a book club, and after we read a nonfiction selection, we think about a takeaway that can be immediately applied to our lives. For instance, I was inspired to write this very blog on learning and applying after reading this line in Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich – “Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.” Even if you are not part of a formalized group, share your ideas with like-minded individuals who enjoy tackling concepts and making better sense of them, your understanding will be solidified only when you talk about what you are learning and processing.
2. Create consistent and concrete action goals. For example, let’s say you read a book on weight loss, what is one practice you could start doing immediately for a minimum of seven days, which would be long enough to measure the results of change or for the habit to begin to take root? It is important to write out your goals so you can look at them as you march towards progress. You can also create a three-month timeframe and then break your goals into two-week sprints. Make your goals measurable and specific so you can monitor your progress.
3. Take risks and practice your skill. It may feel utterly awkward at first like when you follow a new recipe and the food turns out to be the opposite of what you imagined, but doing that same recipe for 30 days, tweaking and tinkering, and taking risks along the way will allow you to commit that recipe to memory eventually, and maybe even improve on the original. Don’t forget to celebrate small wins and little screwups throughout your learning process. Michael Bloomberg once said, “If people tell me they skied all day and never fell, I tell them to try a different mountain.” Most of the thrill of living happens when we are experimenting and being a worker, rather than merely observing and being a student.
Quote of the day: “Knowledge without application is simply knowledge. Applying the knowledge to one’s life is wisdom — and that is the ultimate virtue.” ― Author Kasi Kaye Iliopoulos
Q: What was the last thing you learned that you immediately put into action? How did you find success? Comment and share with us, we would love to hear from you!
Learning to apply is where the power lies