I write these letters to reflect, gain perspective, and boost my self-confidence through writing. I hope to help others do the same.
Which brings me to this story:
I was sitting at my desk at work in Austin back in 2010, reading an article about a mom that got laid off during the 2008 financial crisis.
With bills to pay, she started a successful blog (I’ve forgotten what her blog was about) that made six figures from ad revenue yearly.
She was an entrepreneur, the publication spotlighting her success was entrepreneur dot com (or Inc or Forbes).
That’s where my consumption of information started.
Online blogs.
Airport Magazines.
Business school.
$25 Udemy sales class.
I had gone from free education to a very expensive university to $25 online classes. You name the different spectrums of information, I had done it.
So why is it that it took me to get to a point in 2016, staring at my low bank account, to really get going on my business.
“No more info”
“I need to make money”
That realization broke the inertia and set me into a different trajectory.
All that info for what?
TMI.
TMI.
TMI.
I’m not talking about bowel movements and shit you shouldn’t share with your friends and colleagues.
I’m talking: Too Much Information.
There is too much information out there. This is a blessing and a curse at the same time. There is abundant information out there to educate yourself and learn anything you want.
You want to learn how to DJ. Get on YouTube.
You want to learn how to write books. Get on Masterclass.
You want to start a business. Abundant tips on LinkedIn.
There has never been an era with so much information.
The global civilization is constantly getting connected with information at your fingertips. The barriers to learn anything have been lowered as long as you have a phone and access to the internet.
You don’t have to sit in a classroom to get an education.
You can get it anywhere.
But then, comes the other side.
The sea of information can drown you, taking you down a rabbit hole of endless research. You start with some simple curiosity, next thing you know you are thousands of feet scrolling down walls of content.
You gain information. But you also gain something else: confusion.
Because, just like you learned in the classroom, you are still waiting for a teacher to give you a quiz and then give you the answer. This leads to an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. In this era of information, you can’t just be a consumer of information. You also have to produce your own information.
Your consciousness is made up of all the information you consume.
Think of information like calories.
If you consume it without doing anything, you gain weight. In essence, you get mentally bloated.
Just like exercise and moving your body to expel the energy you’ve consumed, you have to synthesize and act on the information you gain to stay mentally fit.
You have to create information.
But not just to add to the sea of information out there. You have to create it for yourself to understand how to move through life and achieve the things you want to do. The information you want might be out there but the information you need comes through the transformation of information through your life experience.
True knowledge comes when you embed information in your daily experience.
Forget perfect information and a perfect plan.
You have to take action.
The 3Es to transform your reality:
No one is going to hand you your purpose.
You have to seek it out and continue to cultivate it.
When you take an active role in cultivating purpose in your life and work, you’ll build the capacity to weather tough patches of life, find focus in an overwhelming information age, and gain experiences that drive growth and meaning for you.
Here are three steps to make information work for and not against you in the information age.
1. Educate:
Links.
Shorts.
Tik Tok.
Podcasts.
Whatsapp.
Audiobooks.
White papers.
The list goes on.
There is endless information out there. The true battle right now is the struggle for your attention. The average person scrolls through 320 feet of content everyday. The global average screen time on internet-connected devices is 6 hours 40 minutes.
That’s about how much sleep you should be getting in a day.
What do you do with the other 9 hours?
Information is good but only if you do something with it.
A lot of people get stuck here: trying to get a PhD on YouTube.
Remember that you are what you consume.
Every time you get a new piece of information, start categorizing by asking this question: how is this helping me or helping something I care about?
Education is important but you eventually have to get out of the classroom.
2. Elaborate:
The best way to learn is to teach.
You have to synthesize.
The information you’ve consumed can be easily wasted if you don’t transform it into insights. Just like you, most of the people around you are also consuming information. Sometimes the same info.
When you don’t process information, it’s easy to fall into echo chambers.
Parroting what everyone is saying just to sound safe. There is a “mere exposure” effect, where you think you understand the information just because you are exposed to it.
The true test is to explain your information to an 8-year old. When you elaborate your understanding it allows you to find gaps and if you’re conscious enough, you will go back and fill that gap.
I find that writing helps.
When I learn something new, I spend 5 minutes a day writing it down in my note app. This forces me to explain the new information in my own words, apply it to my life, and in turn embed it into my memory.
I create these letters from these notes.
When you take notes, you also become conscious of what you consume, which helps with the information overload in the first step.
Synthesize your knowledge by writing, elaborating, and teaching.
3. Experience:
Experience is the best teacher.
You will never really understand something until you act on it. The best way to learn is through experience. If you are consuming a lot of information on how to cook or workout, at some point you’ll have to cook or workout.
When you put your knowledge into action, you gain experience.
It allows you to embody knowledge. It isn’t just an analytical thing in your mind, you can get a sense of how it makes you feel.
Did it make you happy?
Did it rock your confidence?
Does it spark more curiosity?
Do you need to go get more information?
Experience gives you feedback.
You can learn from your mistakes. It helps you generate new information which you can turn to knowledge and then act on to get more experience. It becomes an information-experience cycle.
Let experience be your guide.
The Experience cycle
Don’t get stuck in the information-overload loop.
There is nothing like a perfect plan.
Create your own information. Not to add to the endless sea of information, but to help you live a more immersed life.
Curate the information you consume, turn it into knowledge through elaboration and writing, act on your knowledge to gain experience, and use that experience to create new information.
The rate of information relay is only going to increase the further we go into the automation age.
Develop your own process to make it work for you.
Yours truly,
Nifemi
P.S. I offer one-on-one coaching on strategic marketing and writing. Grab a free session here.
