On the internet, there are thousands of articles, podcasts and videos right at our fingertips, accessible at any moment.
If someone were to type “self-improvement” into their search bar, their browser would be flooded with countless amounts of information about how to turn their life around, lose weight, become more organized, be more social, be less anxious and basically anything under the sun to better yourself.
Although you may think you’re creating a positive habit by listening to a podcast about self-improvement each day with your morning coffee, you might actually setting yourself up to become an information junkie.
This term may sound daunting and foreign, but it’s actually quite common for many people to run into this problem, and it can be one of the biggest traps while trying to achieve self-improvement. Put simply, an information junkie is someone who spends a lot of time reading, watching videos and listening to advice regarding self-improvement, but spends very little time applying the information they’ve gathered into their every day life.
This problem is especially prevalent today due to the fact that we live in the “information age.” We are constantly consuming or being bombarded with information on social media, the internet and the television. Our brains are becoming jam-packed with all of these facts and figures, and then we find ourselves unsure as to what to do with it.
This is not to say that reading a book, listening to a podcast or tuning into the news is not a healthy thing to do. In fact, it’s an extremely positive thing to stay informed! But when you are consuming information that can’t be applied to your everyday life, how useful is it?
Say you want to lose three pounds, but you’ve had trouble losing weight in the past. If you feel as though you are not ready or unprepared to make the change, you find yourself reading weight loss articles, studying up on trendy diets and researching everything there is to know about calorie intake before deciding your course of action.
Endlessly seeking information can ultimately become a distraction and a never-ending task.
You will never know everything there is to know about weight loss because there are new discoveries each day! Being successful in your goal of losing weight can best be kickstarted by accepting you don’t have all the answers or the perfect information.
By focusing on information rather than action, you’re limiting your self-growth by not getting the hands-on experience. You must experience trial and error in order to find what works for you, or else all the information you have collected will become meaningless on your road to self-improvement.
The best way to get out of this vicious cycle is to simply get out there and do it. Instead of buying another book, act on the techniques you just read about in your last book. Instead of searching for more information, face the fear you’ve been dancing around.
As millennials, we are addicted to self-improvement. We are also graced with endless amounts of resources, whether it be the internet, books, television or any type of media.
You have all the information and you know what to do, so don’t inhibit action and go out and do it.
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