We have all heard the phrase that “knowledge is power!” I believe that this statement is actually slightly incorrect. I believe based on my experience that the application of the knowledge is power.
We have all read books, listened to podcasts, attended events, lectures, speaking engagements or conferences. We have highlighted words, lines, and paragraphs in books, dog-eared the pages never to go back and look at them again. We have attended events and conferences where we took loads of notes with good intentions to go back and apply. However, most of those notes only ended up collecting dust.
Think about it, how many composition or spiral notebooks do you have somewhere in your office or home that contain great ideas that have never been applied. Just to let you know, guilty as charged!
I had a mentor of mine years back ask me a couple of questions of a book I read numerous times. Unfortunately, I couldn’t properly answer either one of the questions. Talk about a wake-up call.
The book was Think & Grow Rich written in 1937 by Napoleon Hill. I have since read that book the way it was originally intended to be read based on the principles of the book. When I finally understood the principles in the book only then was I able to apply them in my own business and life as well as educate others as well.
My message today is to simply be intentional with your learnings. Create a learning log to record your book notes and also how you are going to apply those learnings into your life and business. Take a day to fully debrief your notes after a conference or better yet debrief with a partner while comparing notes. Write down what actions you are going to take and most importantly take one action immediately to create the intended momentum.