Each year there are over 2 million books published. Each day, there are over 7 million blog posts uploaded to the internet.

If I want to learn how to do do something, chances are that someone has written about it.

Why then am I not exactly who I want to be?

It has something to do with the way I take advice and consume information.

I've noticed that I have three tendencies related to how I take in new information.

Lets take a look…

1. The Wholesaler:

   1. This is when I take the advice given to to me and apply it without any modifications.

      1. This tendency comes from being trusting, lazy, and unconfident to make a decision on my own.

   2. Upside: Less thinking is required, which might allow me to make quick decisions.

   3. Downside: I'm not following my unique path, I'm chasing whatever the book or advice giver has laid out for me.

2. The Rebel:

   • This is the part of me that doesn't want to listen to anyone. It's the part that feels burned by past bad information and trusts only what I've seen with my own eyes.

   • Upside: I feel independent and proud that I did something ‘without handouts’. I also feel more committed to plans that are wholly mine.

   • Downside: Coaches can help me avoid unnecessary pain and identify weaknesses in myself and my plans.

3. The Collector:

   1. This is the part of me that likest to continually 'collects' advice and information, but is slow to act.

   2. Upside: More data, more information, and additional perspectives can add value.

   3. Downside: The less I act, the less experience I gain. The less experience I gain, the less tangible growth and progress I will see.

Information accessibility is no longer the advantage that it once was.

My advantage now comes from how I adapt to the information that I receive.

If I want to be the most effective, then I must combine the positive traits from each one of these archetypes that lives inside me…

Adapt or Die:

If I am to thrive in this environment of information saturation, then there are three key things that I must keep in mind…

The First:

Regardless of the advice givers knowledge about a particular topic, no-one will ever know yourself as well as you do.

It's impossible for someone to understand your goals, wants, desires, preferences, and dislikes to the degree that you do.

Because of that, any advice or information that you receive will inevitably be lacking some context.

Where the information I read lacks context, I must make up for with my own experiences and my own context

Bonus:

I'm also more likely to stick to a plan that I created. Customizing the plan to better fit my 'context' won't only get me to where I want to go, it will be easier to stick with it.

The Second:

Learning from others helps me avoid unnecessary pain and suffering.

To do so, I frequently seek out mentors who have accomplished what it is I'm trying to do myself.

On top of that, I find it beneficial to approach everyone as though they have something to teach me.

Frequently the ego tries to convince me that 'this person doesn't know anything', or that 'I don't need help'.

Generally I must try to ignore this voice until I have sufficient data to back up that claim.

The Third:

There are some lessons I was only able to learn through action & experience.

Experience is like a filter.

The more experience I gain, the easier it is for me to filter things out.

As a child I had virtually no experiences. My filter was empty, and virtually anything could pass through.

As an adult I have more experiences to filter information through, so I can make more effective decisions.

The more I do, the more layers of experience get added to my filter. Which helps me make better decisions.

When I fail to act and gain more experience, I'm missing an opportunity to develop that filter.

There are some things that cannot be taught through logic and words alone.

• The feeling of success after a long period of effort.

• The feeling of discipline that it takes to stick to a daily habit.

• Inability to derive happiness from material objects alone cannot be understood through books.

Conclusion:

The traps of ego and inaction are laid out for me like a minefield.

To maintain my asymmetric advantage in a world of equal information, I must remember:

• Add my own context and make the plan my own

• Learn from mentors to help me avoid unnecessary pain

• Some things can only be learned from experience & action

Until next week, good luck.