Written by: Jola Pypno-Crapanzano, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Can you relate to this?
You buy a ton of books and build your ”shelf-esteem” - they end up on the shelf, and you don’t read them.
You enroll in countless courses, begin but don’t finish them.
You attend various seminars and conferences, grab valuable insights but don’t implement them.
You listen to podcasts and read blogs and start feeling more like an imposter.
You watch YouTube videos and tutorials and constantly feel like you are not good enough to create your own.
You purchase programs, but you never use them because you forgot about them.
When you are an entrepreneur, a business owner, and at the same time a lifetime learner, when you love reading, studying, and simply immersing yourself in the knowledge, there is a real danger of falling into the trap of “Consumption syndrome” nobody told you about.
I know this syndrome so well because, for years, I was an embodiment of it. I was the one enrolling in countless certification programs, attending in-person and online events, it seems like they were multiplying in front of me, and my FOMO (Fear of missing out) was killing me. I was constantly chasing the next shiny object, the next thing I thought I needed to learn to succeed. And even though I completed a lot of the programs I purchased, over the years, the cost, both in time and money, started to approach a ridiculous number.
Until one day, I realized; this is insanity. The more I consumed, the less creative I became. I looked at my ideas from the past, and I could not believe that I created so many amazing things, while at this point, I could not focus on making anything happen. Instead, my life felt just like an endless note-taking process. Yes, maybe I learned a lot, but I created very little of my own original work more often than not. I realized I was addicted to consumption. My brain unconsciously slowed down the process of producing original ideas. Instead, it recycled and produced a lower quality remix of what I consumed. I was so engrossed in studying new subjects, absorbing new brilliant ideas, new strategies that I forgot that life is not only about consuming other people’s intellectual properties but, more importantly, about creating my own.
What I learned, though, from studying from different brilliant minds, mentors, and teachers is that yes, it is necessary to constantly improve, get better at your craft, but at the same time not to fall into the trap of overconsuming. It is so easy to lose yourself in the sea of books, courses, blogs, podcasts, videos, etc., that days, weeks, and months can go by just consuming them all.
Consuming is always available, easy to access. It’s always an option, and it becomes an autopilot activity. Unfortunately, the things we consume usually can’t satisfy our hunger for more than a moment. While strategic consuming is a necessary element of learning and creating, we must be careful because while consuming content, we often multi-task or consume through different platforms at once, which makes it less effective.
Constant consumption also causes the devastating comparison game and ultimately the not-enoughness, an imposter syndrome, and stopping us from creating anything of value at all.
If this sounds familiar, don’t feel guilty. It is a very natural path for many people at the beginning of their journey. The key distinction here, though, is at the beginning! There must come the time when you say enough is enough, you put the stake in the ground, and you start creating.
You decide that you won’t waste your life-consuming things anymore.
Instead of filling empty and unfulfilled after mindless consumption, you begin feeling satisfied by creating something using your natural gifts in good ways for you and others.
I will admit it is not easy to break off that consumption habit, but it is possible. And if I could do it, you can too.
What is the solution? How can we become more creative, produce more original content, and stop the deadly consumption?
Here are some tangible tips you can apply right away:
Boost your creativity by unplugging and connecting with nature, doing something you love, surrounding yourself with inspirational people and/or art, trying something new, creating a mood by listening to your favorite music, etc.
Make consuming more difficult and accessible: delete or hide social media from your phone, change passwords often, etc.
Make creating easier by focusing and designating a special time and place for it.
Find the medium that you like, and that resonates with you.
Write a post, a blog, a book chapter instead of just reading someone else’s.
Shoot a video or go live instead of browsing YouTube.
Make real connections with real people instead of wasting time with superficial “friends.”
Say “NO” more often to offers and proposals that don’t serve you now.
Remember: Creativity sits in the absence of consumption so, stop consuming, create!
Jola Pypno-Crapanzano, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine Jola Pypno-Crapanzano is a Certified High-Performance Coach™️, NLP and TLT®️ Practitioner, founder and CEO of Coaching Journey with Jola, two times International Bestselling Author of “One” - Your wellness guide to body, mind, and soul and “Stay home”- When you can’t go outside, what happens inside? She carries Masters Degree in Scientific-Technical Information from Silesian University in Poland. She has over 30 years of combined experience working with thousands of unique individuals and groups of people serving them in many different capacities. First, as a tour guide traveling worldwide (almost 70 countries visited so far) and translating into 4 languages, then working in the entertainment and hospitality industry as part of operational management in a large publicly-traded company in NYC. Finally, coaching people initially as fitness, wellness, and lifestyle coach and most recently more holistically as Certified High-Performance Coach™️, NLP and Time Line Therapy®️ Practitioner. She also helps her clients with positive intelligence, specializing in strengthening their Mental Fitness and supporting them through various strategic interventions. Her mission is to help one million people live their lives to the fullest, reach heightened and sustained levels of clarity, energy, courage, productivity, and influence and show them that it is possible to live lives of their dreams, on their terms, without regrets, be fully engaged, joyful and confident and build an incredible lasting legacy.
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