‘Information wants to be free … Information wants to be expensive’ The right information at the right time can change your life. (Stewart Brand, hat tip to Sonia Simone)
I’m sitting with a pile of ebooks, unread Third Tribe threads and seminars, and then there is that blog waiting to be updated.
Then I remember how to eat an elephant (figuratively speaking of course, elephants are not kosher, so I do not eat them), and I remember to breathe. I don’t need to read EVERYTHING, not because it’s not all good, but rather than collect reading badges I need to put what I’m reading to work.
Blogger and Third Tribe Chief Chris Brogan spoke about this idea in a webinar that people like to zip through all the social media books out there, post on Twitter about finishing them, and then pick up the next one. As an author of one of those books (Trust Agents, if you haven’t read it and you’re reading this post you should read it yesterday) he’d love to see someone say something like, “just finished Trust Agents and am now digesting it and planning a new direction based on chapter X.”
This happened to me recently with something I read on Copy Blogger, 20 Warning Signs That Your Content Sucks. I started going through this list and saying, “um yes, that’s me … uh oh, that too … oh sh**, does my copywriting suck?” I’m not seeing huge numbers of readers, I like some of my stuff but not all of it, and I think I need to spend more heart, soul, and time on what I write rather than feeling the burn of not writing.
I plan to write a whole other post about getting a kick in the copywriting pants, but this one is about information overload and ways to deal with it. The point: less is more. I can read all the ebooks out there, finish social media book after social media book, and listen to a thousand Third Tribe seminars, but if I’m not being deeply affected and moved to act and build upon what I’m absorbing then it’s just consumption, info addiction at best.
And that’s why I don’t buy every great ebook that comes out from people like Johnny B. Truant or why I held off on buying the Pricing book from StartSmart (I eventually gave in and purchased and have started to look at it – violating my own rules already!). The ebook I am reading now is 31 Days to Better Blogging.
My plan is to read one e-book at a time, go through it thoroughly taking notes and doing any exercises, and when I’m done take a few days to absorb, (I have this horrible habit with tree books too, reading three or four at a time). So I’m setting aside a half hour each day to look at my business reading and do something with it. Just 30-minutes, the same time each day (give or take), and putting action into my reading.
So that’s how I’m eating my elephant, 1-book at a time. What are others doing?