Many of us spend a lot of time (and money) consuming information. We buy books, we watched YouTube videos, we attend seminars, we have special notebooks (and pens) for taking notes at church. We invest a lot in ensuring that at the very least, we are exposed to information. Information we hope will change our lives (and it can).
However, there’s a flaw here that I’d like us to think about. Something that might explain to us why after so many seminars and so many hours on YouTube we haven’t seen much change. Some of us have seen changes, but we still have this nagging feeling that the change is not proportional to the investment we made in exposing us to the information we have.
Here is a thought:
There is a difference between learning and being exposed to information.
Many of us are exposed to information. We are physically in the room when the information is shared. We even take notes and highlight the “deep” parts. We are exposed to the information, and that’s where it all stops.
Entertain this thought: if you stopped taking in any new information and just spend time reviewing the information you currently have, how much time will it take you to complete a comprehensive review?
And if we did an ‘implementation audit’? How much of that information have you implemented in your life?
Vusi Thembekwayo once said this, and it has stayed with me ever since: “I’m going to tell you something and I hope you don’t do anything with it so you can invite me back to tell you the exact same thing I just told you. That’s how we make money in the motivational speaking business.” (I might have paraphrased a bit but you get the picture right?) This line has haunted me ever since I heard him say it, and I’m not in the motivational speaking business.
We have a tendency of being information junkies. Most of us won’t admit it but it’s true. I have attended a few Dreamweek conferences (a 5-day conference hosted by Christian Revival Church. 5 days, 18 sessions) and I took notes in every session. I even bought Dreamweek stationery. So somewhere amongst my belongings, there is a notebook for every Dreamweek Conference I’ve ever attended, and as I said, I have attended a few. And this is just one example.
So the question remains: how much of the information you’ve been exposed to and consumed have you implemented?
Are you really invested in changing your life and the lives of those around you or are you simply chasing the next ‘tweetable’ phrase? This next part might sound like I’m coming for your life but I promise you I come in peace. Based on what you keep sharing on your WhatsApp statuses and Instagram captions, you shouldn’t be going through what you are going through now. You should be living it up somewhere, facing new devil. But you’re still here, facing the same devil you bumped into 6 years ago. What’s the saying again? New levels bring new what?
Food for thought:
“Learning is when you extract value from the volume of information you’re exposed to.” - Dr GA Lechuti
So the challenge going forward is this: resist the temptation to be an information junky and extract value from the volume of information you’re consuming. Extract value from volume!
Take something out of what you have just learned and apply it in your life immediately. Let what you know change your life before it can change the lives of others. Only give us what has worked in you and for you.
Do not be an information junky. Be an information user. Used Information changes situations.
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