Knowledge without application is just knowledge. It needs to be applied to do much good.
So with that in mind I have come up with a way to keep track of new knowledge gained, thus allowing me to implement and track it. I am specifically talking about knowledge gained from reading or listening to a book or podcast. There can be so much information packed into a book or podcast that it is impossible to absorb much of it, let alone use any of it.
Think about it, if someone takes the time to write a book, it usually takes years to write. And the information in many books was gained from years, if not decades of experience. It all gets condensed into a limited number of pages in a book. We read or listen to this knowledge and try to utilize it. This can often seem overwhelming and hard to remember, therefore making it difficult to implement. So I would take notes and then review the notes and begin to implement them. I have a system that seems to work well, so I thought I would pass it along.
I find it best to set up a piece of paper or area on my phone where I can organize notes for the particular book or podcast I will be listening to. Doing this ahead of time is best, as I am more organized that way and adding a topic is easier to do when I hear or read it.
Then there are some obvious things I write down, name of book, podcast or where I received the info. Include the date. Then I list something that describes the topic, something that will jog my memory. I usually include a page # or minute mark in case I don’t remember details.
This process sounds easy, but it is easy to not do…saying I’ll do it later is easy and often things get forgotten.
By setting up a little system like this, I was amazed at the results. I try to follow up on what I have learned and use it right away, and then keep on using it to see how it works for me. If it is helpful, I will surely keep on using it, or doing it and probably start telling my friends about it.
So step one, write,
step two; follow up and try
step three: share it if it works for you
The sharing part is important as it will give you someone to get feedback from and give you someone to follow up with on the progress.
Try it and see what happens.