Learning is terrific…but it can also be a very deceptive form of passive procrastination.
Who here knows at least one person that seems to ALWAYS be learning, but never takes action?
It’s an easy trap to fall into – especially for those of us who LOVE to learn.
There is something amazingly similar between the rush you get when you learn something new in a book, in an online course or at a seminar to the rush you get when you actually accomplish something.
Just like the sounds made by the slot machine triggers something in our brains that keep us pumping money into the darn thing, again and again we’ll spend money on learning without ever hitting the jackpot (in this case, taking the action that gets us a result!)
If this sounds like you, then…
Here are 4-tips I use to make sure LEARNING is balanced with DOING in my daily routine:
Direct vs random learning
For the most part, I like to make sure I direct my learning in specific ways to fill a gap or help me reach the next step in a plan I am acting on.
In other words, don’t just read or watch online videos to hope you learn something, be proactive in taking action and then ONLY go and find training to help you solve specific problems.
Once you achieve a certain level of success, I DO think it is good to schedule some specific time to just randomly learn new things…just don’t make that your ONLY way or learning
Produce an action for every block of learning
This one takes some discipline but makes the MOST sense when you really think about it.
I simply make sure that anytime I site down for 30-minutes to read a book or consume a course, attend a seminar or even talk to a coach…I make SURE that I implement at least 1 thing BEFORE I go and learn again.
I love to learn, so for me this forces action so I can get on and learn the next thing.
Schedule “Doing” time before “Learning” time
I’m a morning person. Not that I get up super early, just that I m more productive between 7AM to 12PM than I am any other part of the day.
That means I make sure I use my MOST productive part of the day taking ACTION…then I schedule any learning or research later in the day.
This is my way of acknowledging that learning through DOING trumps any other type of learning.
Document your learning to share with others (turns learning into doing)
I’m betting you never thought of this one.
A way to make learning more effective AND more productive is to document what you learn and use that either as content you package into your products or as content you use for marketing.
I suppose the final thought on this is that changing your mindset to one where DOING is actually a form of LEARNING is very important.
This gets you out of the mode of always having to passively learn – to one where you can actively learn by doing.
If you found this tip useful, join us over at 30 Day Product Profit Formula for the complete set of steps and ongoing tips to package, launch and market digital information products from anywhere!
