Your continued reading and listening is a sin

We'll be discussing this in our 12pm MT, live Free Agent Underground Show this afternoon. You can join us here.

If you are reading this blog, you probably read other blogs. If you listen to my podcasts, you probably listen to other podcasts. Chances are you may get some business magazines, or you frequently purchase nonfiction, 'self-help' books.

Yes? Me too.

I read, and often get inspired. Which is nice! That's better than letting negative input come into my head for sure. I'd rather we all filled up with this type of input than listen to Black Sabbath and read Stephen King novels for sure.

But let's be honest, we are primarily being ENTERTAINED.

Our lives are what they are today. If they are perfect, then we wouldn't be seeking other input for the most part. Agreed? So, we want something better. We generally want:

• More money
• More time
• More purpose
• More peace
• Less stress
• Less struggle
• Less conflict

So we again, read blogs, listen to podcasts, read magazines and books, watch videos, even catch 'self-help' shows on TV (I assume, though I haven't had any type of TV for over a decade).

But, when did we last make a significant change that got us closer to the above seven goals? When did we last ACT ON and APPLY what we learned?!

Folks, I'm preaching to myself here. I sicken myself, actually. I am not a man full of grace and compassion. I'm just naturally NOT. It infects my entire life. I've been well aware of that for years. So why did I read so many other books on so many other topics? Finally, I picked up "What's So Amazing About Grace." Unbelievable, revelatory, life changing book. I read it. Blew me away. Then…I put it down and picked up another great book.

Guess what? I'm still a jerk. I'm just as James 1:22 talks about. I'm a 'hearer of the word and not a doer.' I wasted my time and money on that book if I don't APPLY it.

So, I talked to my core guys about it to help get accountability. Then, started reading it again and put away the other books I wanted to read.

Guess what? I'm still a jerk. But it's coming to mind more. It's needling me more, my reactions are more acute to me. They anger me. I'm starting to temper my reactions and adjust my actions.

How many times should I read that book and how long should I study it and seek to apply it in order to actually change? What if it took me a year, and after a year I was a new man? It would be worth the world to my wife and children.

So leaving that book behind and picking up 'another great book' would be a sin in my life. Spending an hour today reading blogs, listening to podcasts and investing my time elsewhere is in essence saying, "I don't care enough about changing to stay on task. I'd rather be entertained."

I hear so many people that brag about how many 'great' blogs and podcasts and videocasts and books they voraciously read. And yet I see them make no significant change or progress in their lives, year in and year out. They are being entertained. 'Positive entertainment' no doubt, which is better than negative. But it's still entertainment. Let's not kid ourselves or expect much from our time invested in these things, nor lament that our circumstances don't change. I won't impress my wife by reading 20 books on marriage. I'll impress her by changing.

Our primary change does NOT occur by osmosis. It occurs from radical action. Period. Have you ever lost weight by surrounding yourself with diet books  and skinny people? Or by throwing out the Twinkies, putting duct tape over your mouth and going for a run?

The average adult reads 10 books per year. The average peer of mine probably reads at least a couple good self-help books per month, and many read one or two a week.

If we truly desire to change, I believe we'd be good to stick with one book per year that we read, study, outline, apply, review, apply, review, apply. And maybe at the end of a year we'll have actually achieved a positive outcome.

You want to be successfully self-employed? Quit taking in loads of content and 'surrounding yourself' with it. It won't help. Act and apply. Our upcoming IDEA event on March 25th is a great place to start.

P.S. Regarding my use of the word 'sin' in the headline. I truly believe that failing to address areas in my life that I know are harming me or others, falls under the definition of 'sin.' Which is...'missing the mark.'

Comments

[Dennis]

Well said Kevin!

[Mic Wright]

Wow, did this speak to me! You are talking about me ("the jerk") - a wandering reader and lacking application. Thanks Kevin for the focus and post.

[Ivan Bickett]

I'm right there with you, Kevin!

Not sure if you remember, but I put in my questionare when I applied to FAA:

I'm tired of reading countless books and not applying what I've learned. I'm tired of dreaming and not taking the steps to make my dreams happen.

All of us are guilty of learning for entertainment pursposes at some point. Fortunately, I, like you, have been convicted about this one lately and am doing my best to take steps to apply what it is I've learned over so many years.

Ivan

[Kevin Miller]

Dennis - thank you, hope you can join us for the show!

[Kevin Miller]

Ivan - thanks brother. As you'll hear in the show, I'm not saying I've arrived...but like you, I'm convicted and striving.

[Kevin Miller]

Mic - thanks for this. Yeah, most of my focus comes from my personal convictions of where I'm missing it!

[Randy Buckman]

Not always but ALOT of the time this is unfortunately me! I feel I am missing out on something if I don't listen or read to my favorite blog or podcast or I feel like I am not getting much accomplished if I only focus on 1 thing. But I know from past experience that complete focus on 1 "thing" at a time accomplishes MUCH more in my life and I love the results that it produces.

[Kevin Miller]

Randy - Yeah, I don't want to discount 'daily inspiration' at all. But
when do we ever stop, study, apply and seek to master and change! It's
not a cultural norm. But, it can become ours, eh?!

[Rick Hair]

Right on target Kevin. You nailed me and did it at a good time, because I recently realized I have been avoiding change by using my time reading rather than acting on what I already know. Good shot brother.

[Brian Yamabe]

Spot on, Kevin. You know before I signed up that reducing the number of podcasts, blogs, etc. that I was following was going to be my sacrifice. My question is, "How do you determine that 'one book'"?

[Bill Hays]

Kevin, good food! Thank you.
I know you and Teri have been camped in the book of James lately and the impressions that Father has been making on you because of it. Your blog reminds me of James 1:23 about a man who listens to the word and doesn't do it is like a man who looks in a mirror and forgets himself when he looks away. That old guy Socrates said that "the unexamined life is not worth living". I, like you, find myself jumping from one input to another. I occasionally peek into my soul but am afraid to wade into the deeper waters of that scary place and allow what I read, and Father's comments, to have it's effect. The large flow of "incoming" keeps my head down and I miss what's really going on on the horizons of my soul. This is certainly a wake up call to slow down...take the time to introspect...and carry on those conversations with Father that he so deeply desires for us to have with him. Conversations that will yield much more wisdom than just the knowledge of profuse input.

[Don Current]

I've been thinking about this same topic. I just did a video promo for a workshop I'm going to do at church that hits on this subject. Check it out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDZVKUnthpI

[chris Repp]

This is such vintage Kevin Miller!!! A humble but hard-hitting look at work and life. Thanks.

Sin is exactly the right word. When I run from a store without paying the owner, I am stealing his stuff. Our lives are God's stuff. (In Him we live, move and have our very being, right?) When I am living less than the life He created me to live, I'm sinning against Him. And that is a big problem (One only Jesus can fix and we must live out).

I'm convicted and encouraged at the same time Kevin which is a powerful combination. I'm so glad FAA is a place to DO something about it.

[Kevin Miller]

Bill - thanks Brother. I just have to admit I spend so much time reading
great stuff, and it's just to entertain me. A little entertainment is
OK, but I am bristling more and more with folks talking about all the
great stuff they take in, like it's some badge of honor. As if we get
points. This isn't grade school where we get an 'A' for memorizing, eh?!

[Kevin Miller]

Chris - man...thank you. YOU...inspire me. Your words here made me dwell
on this more, I love that line, "When I am living less than the life He
created me to live, I'm sinning against Him." I'm quoting you in the
show.

[Kevin Miller]

Brian - I remember. Your question, I'll answer on the show.

[Kevin Miller]

Rick - thanks so much...again, I'm just speaking out loud what I'm
speaking to myself...we're all in the same boat. Let's pile in a better
boat together.

[Brian Yamabe]

Spot on pronunciation :-) and great advice about choosing a book that addresses your biggest pain point.

[Kevin Miller]

Brian - thanks. Tell me what book you end up going after!

[Mike Hirst]

Alright Kevin, you outdid yourself this time. This is really the best post I've read in a loonnggg while. I've been thinking the same thing lately and I couldn't have said it better.

One of my original goals for the year was to read a book a week. You are so right on the money. I'd be way better off taking one book every couple months and just completely dissecting it, devouring every tiny morsel of wisdom I can find and APPLYING IT!

Well done, sir! You're a huge inspiration to me. Thanks again for everything.

[Brett Traudt]

I don't know how you do it, but you always are tslking about me! I am a self proclaimed "Information Addict". I love reading books that others recommend, yet I jump right into another book, then another then a year later come back to one I've already read when I don't have the next book to purchase. What a waste! I want to be a millionaire so I have tried following the book a month idea, but I am still not a millionaire :-). I am sure that if I would've applied the information a while ago, I would be a lot further along...then again... I am further along from reading because from my passion for reading, I have found FAA! I do understand your point in this.

[Ashley Logsdon]

First off, talk about a catchy title! Great job reeling me in, brother. Second, wow--I love this. It's so true. For all of us "dreamers" and entrepreneurs, we surround ourselves with positive thinking, self-help, and inspiration...but it doesn't mean anything more than "warm fuzzies" for the moment if we don't take what we learn and apply it in our lives.

Thanks for the reminder. I'm choosing books this year that really affect me and challenge where I am - I have big goals for this year to be a life-changer for me, and because of that, for my family as well.

[Nathan Logsdon]

Great Post Kevin! To echo Ashley, we are both working on expanding our knowledge and exposure to great works...but they don't matter if they don't change your life! We seem to cling to that handful of literature that really moves us. For me it was two works, "Mans Search for Meaning" and "Ragamuffin Gospels." Both fantastic books that really changed my life and how I live it...but that was YEARS ago. Thanks for the thought provoking blog...it better change my life or I am living in sin.

[Shalom Mama]

Freaking awesome Kevin! Wow. If there's one word I feel God telling me lately is FOCUS. I have information ADD and am constantly moving on, moving on to the next book, podcast, article, blog, whatever. It's my excuse to not take action, because taking action is scary!

I read the 4-hour workweek recently and the "information diet" keeps coming back to me. And it's a relief to step back and not take so much in. And I've been more productive. What a concept :)

It's hard to ship when you're buried under content.

[Sutton Parks]

Wow, I'm right there with you. I have a ton of books, most I haven't read, and fewer I've followed. I'm not as intense as a lot of you; just different personality types, I guess. However, when I started my business, a friend gave me a few suggestions, I followed them, and it worked.

Muhammad Yunus has a book, "Banker to the Poor", which I haven't read, except for several pages over coffee at Borders (RIP). He lends the poor money and tells them to go get started, and that they already know enough. And they do; he has a very high success rate.

I love the story of the Greek philosopher, Diogenese. Diogenes was a strange man. He said that no man needed much. He did not live in a house and slept in a barrel. He spent his days sitting in the sun and saying wise things to those who were around him. Alexander the Great went to see him once and asked him what he wanted. Diogenes said he wanted Alexander to move aside two step. Alexander was blocking the sun from hitting Diogenes. Alexander the Great said, "If I were not Alexander, I should like to be Diogenes".

There is also a great quote in Matthew about birds not storing food in barns yet they still enough to eat. In fact they don't sow or reap! So I'm trying to focus a little more on balance and more contentment, and trust.

Sorry for the long reply. I guess I could have just said that it is not what I don't know that is holding my back. It is not putting into action what I do know that is holding me back. If I do the best with what I have, I'll get more. Thanks Kevin, your post certainly got me to think and clear some things up for myself.

[Sutton Parks]

I'm really sorry for the long reply now. I'll be shorter in the future.

[Kevin Miller]

Sutton - You said it well right here, " it is not what I don't know that
is holding my back. It is not putting into action what I do know that
is holding me back." Nicely put.

[Kevin Miller]

Nina - "Information ADD" that's good, and I think we as a culture have
it. It's another things that keeps us so darn busy...but not achieving
much of value.

[Kevin Miller]

Hey, thank you Sister. As I said in the blog, I'm the chiefest of sinners. Met with a friend today who was just RAVING about a book that I "just have to read." But again...my family needs me to have more grace. So...back to "What's so amazing about grace." Again. And before bed tonight I read Psalms 1. Three times. I'm just going to memorize it. Thanks so much for reading Ashley.

[Kevin Miller]

Thanks so much Nathan. Yeah, I have a handful of profound books that greatly impacted my life. Then this sea of stuff I've read. I've got to be more discerning. I guess I've pressured myself now in my own writing...are folks reading...sinning? Crap.

[Kevin Miller]

Brett - Successful people read, no doubt. But more than that, they are
just doers and they act and apply, and in my experience...are pretty
darn discerning with what they spend their time reading. I knew a high
profile guy once that had an assistant go through books and give him the
'clif notes' according to what she knew he cared about. He'd read those
to get the gist, and if those notes really intrigued him, he'd possibly
pick up the actual book and get in to it. Honestly for me, I often feel
I got the primary 'gist' of a book in the first few chapters, and that
was enough. Most books have profound learnings in them, but an entire
book wasn't necessary. So I don't hassle myself with finishing every
book either.

[Kevin Miller]

Mike - you bless me with your encouraging words here. And they inspire
me to really press in to DO what I'm talking about here.
Yes...dissecting. I want to take the few books I invest in, and figure
out, "OK Kevin, how are you going to apply this today, and tomorrow?
What is the measuring stick that showcases some mastery? What needs to
be accomplished before I pick up another book?" Or, again...to be honest
and say, "I'm reading right now for some nice, inspiring
entertainment." In which case I'll probably then think, my time would be
better spent talking with my wife or playing with my kids...

[Chris Sutton]

Kevin - Reading your blog and all the comments made me think of Ecclesiastes 12:12 "take this warning: To the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion to them is wearisome to the flesh."

I love to read. With blogs and email updates and such have a season. They speak to me because of the season or situation I am in. When that season ends so goes the reading.

Now how about a post about actually ending the subscription to the podcast, blog etc. Something in me still wants to see keep it going even though I'm ignoring and deleting.

Chris

[David Willis]

This is spot on, and so hard. It is hard to admit where the flaws are (even though they are easy for everyone else to see). Then, to do the hard work of correcting the problem? It is easier to pick up the next book and keep reading. Thanks for the inspiring words Kevin. It is a great reminder not to collect information, but to become informed.

[Brian]

Yes, Kevin, I can very much identify with your line of thought here, although I had not phrased it this way in my own mind previously - excessive intake without application as simply entertainment.

And I have seen others recommend something along the lines of what you mentioned - that it would be better to master few books of outstanding value (speaking now of books by human authors, not the one Book which above all deserves our effort to "master" it) than to simply read many books on a superficial level, which often then have minimal impact on who we are or what we become.

[Kevin Miller]

Brian - I'm sure I'm not the first to say it, but as it's not
commonplace, I'll say it again! And yes, no book compares to THE BOOK

[Kevin Miller]

David - Absolutely. I can't say that the drilling down and changing is
easy for fun. It maddens me. I just don't want to kid myself about it.

[Kevin Miller]

Chris - amazing you wrote in that scripture. I read an excerpt from it in my show today, reading out of the book, "Henry and the Great Society". Hey, I finally quit getting Seth Godin's blog alerts. That was hard. But right now, just need to apply.