I’ve learned a lot since I started my self-improvement journey. Between the videos, books, and articles I’ve checked out and the conversations I’ve had with people who are also into this stuff, I keep learning new things almost every day. However, I’ve been thinking lately that I may be focusing too much on learning new stuff and not enough on practicing the stuff I’ve already learned. A friend of mine mentioned this a few weeks ago and I’ve heard it from other sources as well, so I think there’s something to it.
Something I’ve found is that it’s easy for me to become so fixated on reading the next book, learning the next life hack, and having the next breakthrough that I don’t spend enough time in the present. Funnily enough, the stuff that’s helped me the most has centered on mindfulness, presence, and being in the now, and yet practicing those things is one of my biggest challenges. I can be distracted by almost anything, especially my thoughts. Staying focused has long been difficult for me and always seeking new stuff makes this even more challenging. It also makes me think that the answer I’ve been looking for is always just around the corner, which can prevent me from actually taking steps toward where I want to go.
Stellar ideas that are never used accomplish nothing, while halfway decent ideas put into action can do a lot. At this point, I’ve got a lot of good stuff that I’ve learned from a wide variety of places. I still plan to keep learning helpful stuff, but I don’t want to forget to put it into practice or lose sight of why I want to learn and grow. I also want to remember to pass on what I find, which can be difficult to do if I’m always looking for the next big thing. So whichever of my goals I’ve been avoiding due to feelings of uncertainty and fear (such as entrepreneurship, financial freedom, and things related to those subjects), I’m going to work on finding the courage to move forward on them. A lot of my journey has consisted of learning how to do things as I go, so I just have to apply that same mentality toward each of my goals and trust that I’ll get there one step at a time.