Information acquisition and the trick
This week’s syndicated column “Information acquisition and the trick” is published in the following Michigan and Illinois newspapers and digital publications: Midland Daily News, The Edwardsville Intelligencer, Huron Daily Tribune, Jacksonville Journal-Courier, Manistee News Advocate, and Big Rapids Pioneer. The article focuses on information acquisition and how you can easily add knowledge to the foundation of who you are. All you have to do is find something you’re passionate about, follow the tips and tricks outlined in the article, and pursue it!
I'm pretty sure most young people aren’t consciously aware of the greatest gift our current society provides that’s available to every individual that has an internet connection. Why? Because during their entire life an internet connection has always been available.
So, what’s the greatest gift? The greatest gift is the ability to deeply research any subject of their choosing. There’s enough information available to become a world-renowned expert on any subject and there’s an audience interested in what you’ve learned should you choose to share your acquired knowledge.
With great clarity I can still remember the day when a speaker at a conference shared that if you spend 30 minutes per day on any specific subject, within a year you’ll become a regional expert on that subject, and within five years you’ll be a world-renowned expert. The speaker utilized the sport of basketball to prove the point. He said spending just 30 minutes each day would allow your brain to acquire information you were previously unaware of, manage it into an organized chunk, and file that chunk for utilization of your choosing at any point in the future.
Studying a specific subject every day for a year would add up to a base of knowledge that surpasses 99.9% of other people in society, thus presenting an opportunity for you to be a regional expert. This could lead to you being an announcer for a high school or college basketball team where you’re able to spew interesting and pertinent information to 99.9% of the listening audience that wasn’t aware of the information you share. After five years of studying basketball consistently for 30 minutes each day, you would be exposed to more information than 99.999% of the entire U.S. population and have something to offer the major sport channels are interested in. While I can’t remember how the speaker came to the conclusions used in the example, the clear message he conveyed provided an abundance of hope: Any of us can acquire vast amounts of information that can serve a purpose in our life.
What's the trick? Actually, there are a few.
The first is understanding why just 30 minutes per day. Why not more? Imagine you have a full pitcher of water and a sponge on a counter. The water represents knowledge, and the sponge represents your brain. If you attempt to pour all the water on the sponge at once, very little will be absorbed, which means most of the water will have been wasted by trying to have the sponge absorb it all at once. But if you poured an amount of water on the sponge that the sponge could fully absorb and process today, then a little more tomorrow, and each successive day, then all of the water (knowledge) would be fully absorbed by the sponge (your brain). This pacing is what allows a long-distance runner to cover substantially more distance that a sprinter.
The next trick is chunking each day’s information into specific categories prior to filing it in your brain for retrieval. Over time you’ll notice similarities between new information you’re adding to already stored information you acquired previously. This process can include another trick where you have a notepad handy during your daily 30 minutes with predetermined categories you’ve created to help you file. For basketball, you might have categories focusing on data of a player, the NBA, college, high school, culture, state by state data, compared to other sports, and history of the sport. Another trick is spending the last five minutes of the half hour filing the information in your brain with a method that anchors the information permanently for instant retrieval at your beck and call. Anchoring methods can be quickly learned by reading a memory book. My favorite has always been “The Memory Book” by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas and contains numerous benefits that can also improve other areas of your life.
The final trick is deciding what to do with all this knowledge once you acquire it. It’s perfectly fine if you decide that you simply enjoy knowing a large amount of information about a particular subject. You might also pursue the 30-minute per day rule as you attempt to know more about a medical challenge that may be impacting your life or the life of someone you love. You may choose a subject that would enhance your skill set in the career you’re pursuing making you more valuable to the company you work for. It could set you up for a career as a consultant. That’s what’s so awesome about information acquisition. It tends to create life-long-learners out of people that consistently pursue. I love being a life-long learner and continue to enjoy the benefits of the pursuit of information acquisition.
I’ll leave you with this: Just knowing that you are in possession of an incredible gift, the ability to acquire vast amounts of knowledge using a simple plan of 30 minutes per day, should make you feel pretty good about yourself. So, find a subject you’re curious or passionate about and get busy acquiring information related to it. You’ll never regret making the effort. Who knows, maybe in five years I’ll be reading about how your expertise is changing the world with your knowledge. I hope so. And don’t forget, I believe in you! GiddyUp!
In addition to being a syndicated columnist in the midwest, Paul White is an author, motivational and inspirational speaker, entrepreneur, podcaster, and life coach located in Midland, Michigan. He offers self-help and culture development to start your journey towards consistent growth and joy. If you’re interested in getting in touch with Paul, please submit an inquiry via our Contact Page.