You have 1,332 tabs open. You’ve downloaded more free ebooks and checklists than Prince has songs.

What exactly have you learned?

You promised yourself the last training you took would be your last for the year.

You told yourself, “Self: no more courses. You’re on a strict information diet. It’s time to sit down, focus, and apply every note you’ve taken.”

Well, what are you doing?

Where are the results?

No, this new shiny thing isn’t any different. You’ve just, somehow (again), convinced yourself that you aren’t ready.

You’ve fed your unrelenting itch to gather more information, to do more research, to open yet another God-forsaken tab.

Well, congratulations. You are now a certified course-taking, research-prenuer. You should be dizzy from all of the sales funnels you’ve been in – or at least know how to breakdance.

This year, this month, this decade was yours. This was to be the unveiling of your great work.

You were going to be doubling down on creating, implementing, and breaking things.

You have all the checklists, all the courses, and all the books — what more is there?

Instead of giving power to your false need for more info, here’s a better strategy to reclaim your time, focus, and confidence.

Consider the possibility you know enough to start

What if, what you know right now, all the lessons that you’ve learned, all of the stories you could tell up until this point was enough to fill ten books?

What if, you had more than enough money, resources, and inspiration to start your business?

Would you believe me?

Would you have enough faith and knowledge about yourself to follow-through on delivering if you truly believed this too?

Many of us, including myself, forget just how much we know. And because we’ve been gathering so much knowledge, feel unqualified to teach it.

We create the defense of not feeling ready. We gather up all the resistance we can to avoid actually putting our knowledge, skill, and experience to great use.

Like even now, as I type this, my mind is becoming anxious for a distraction.

But we know, when we’re doing our work, distraction is the enemy. We know that our quick break or pause to validate our thoughts isn’t necessary. It isn’t dire.

This is why I do my best to not write while connected to the Internet. I also keep my phone far away.

We will be OK without thumbing the thesaurus for a better word. Or whatever excuse we’ve used to open another browser tab.

It breaks our concentration. We can’t focus on more than one thing at once.

Just try, if only for a few minutes, to work from the knowledge you already have. I guarantee you’re underestimating yourself.

Review the Material You Already Have

Much of the info you’re rushing to download, watch, consume is a regurgitation of old information. It’s something you’ve read or seen before.

So, why not review what you already have?

Reread that article you have bookmarked. Open that book that once gave you chills. Review old course work and the assignments you didn’t do in them.

You have a lot of information already in your possession, why not execute on that first?

Because there might be lessons you missed. You may see things from a different vantage point now.

And if you come across new things, have some self-control and save them for later. I promise you’ll be OK.

Here are a few resources to use when you come across materials you want to refer back to:

• Pocket
• Instapaper

A Simple Method for Remembering What You Learn

Your goal isn’t to simply read things to say you’ve read them. Or take courses to get a golden certificate.

You want to be able to recall the knowledge. Ultimately, you don’t want to have to continually refer back to old material or seek out new information.

Hopefully, this is the case anyway. Otherwise, you’ll be paying a whole lot of money for things you should know already.

So, how do you remember the information?

While there is some debate about whether it’s accurate or not, in the 1960s, The NTL Institute introduced The Learning Pyramid.

The study essential said that if you immediately implement or teach what you’ve learned, you will retain the information far better.

And while this might be theory, you can’t argue with the strategy. If you’re taking a course, reading a book, or learning anything, why not implement the information?

And why not do it as fast as you can?

So once you take in the information, share it with your small audience in the form of an article. Outline what you learned in a short guide or YouTube video.

If you don't want to take this approach, try teaching it to a friend or your partner.

Getting better, learning the skill, and providing more value should be the goal. Using it as soon as possible will only enhance your chances of success.

A Final Plan of Action

If you have information that you’ve read but don’t immediately implement into your life, it’s as good as useless.

You need a solid plan to stay the course — no pun — and stay focused. So, here’s a quick review of what to do when you have the urge to click away from what you’re working on. Ask yourself:

1. Is it possible that I have enough information to start?
2. Do I have books, courses, and materials currently in my possession that I can refer to?
3. Is there information in them that I haven’t implemented?
4. In the future, how can I go about implementing information I learn significantly faster?

Don’t get caught in the same cycle of gathering information.

It’s time for you to be the source. It’s time for you to apply it, once and for all.

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