Fighting Infobesity

Take a glass. Fill it with water. When it’s full how much more can you put in? None. You can try to pour more into it if you like but it just spills out over the top. It’s full.

The internet is suffering from a disease. Infobesity. Just like pouring water into the glass, we are being fed more and more information as the meme of ‘content = value’ virals its way into our minds. Gathering information isn’t learning. It might look like it but it’s not. If you can’t do it, you haven’t learned it. You’ve just acquired information ABOUT it.

More content ≠ More value

Now I love creating content as much as the next person. I love the process of it; the feeling something is ‘coming through me from the universe.’ Over the years, when I’ve attended programs, events or trainings there is so much content no one could possibly act on it. I’ve watched myself and others go into data coma. Sadly, I confess to having done this to others myself.

Despite the ‘just follow these simple steps’ mantra, there’s too much information to digest. Just like having too much food at thanksgiving.

No more ‘shelf help’

How much ‘shelf help’ have you collected over the years from programs, conferences and books? I have reams and reams of great info I’ve been overfilling my glass with for years.

I’ve come to an awareness that I’d like to share. This is not news for some but the degree of importance has hit me like never before.

Information isn’t the answer. Information is readily available now more than ever before. Let me prove it. If you google these phrases this is how much info you can get in less than a second in terms of ‘hits:’

• How to lose weight: 96,000,000 .32 sec.
• How to succeed in business: 160,000,000 .65 sec
• How to make a million dollars online: 70,200,000 .41sec
• How to find your ideal mate: 33,000,000 .48 sec
• How to get your dream job: 159,000,000 .46 sec

If one is marketing in those areas, that’s the amount of competition there is. If we think our information is so unique, innovative or special that no one has it, we may need to think again. Information is already out there and easy to get.

Here’s an example. While working on this blog, I thought I had created the word ‘infobesity.’ I had a flash of inspiration on a bike ride. After googling it, I found out it already exists. It freaked me out because here I thought I was being creative and original.

In the Urban Dictionary it means: “the relentless feast of online information, typically through search engines.” As the site says, “The never ending onslaught of information, data, facts and figures & related content that the internet produces means we are all becoming infobese.” One could say, we’re becoming ‘fatheads.’ …..                                                                                                                                                                                                      But wait, there’s a cure.

Use Experiential learning

Get on the bike. You can read all about the mechanics of cycling. You can watch others do it. You can hear people talk about it. You can get the 5 steps, 7 practices, 11 principles, whatever, about it. But you haven’t learned how to, until you get on it and experience pedaling, turning, braking and balance.

Empty the glass

So here’s my challenge for all of us content creators. Instead of giving people more and more information, let’s help them ‘empty the glass’ by having them take action earlier in the data stream than later.

Let’s focus more on what people do with what we give them and less on the ‘brilliance’ of what we offer. This is emptying the glass. Every time they empty it by taking action, they’ll have more space to add something.

Try it yourself. Think about something that is really important to you to get some movement on. Now, just click on this link….. Yes, I want to Play!

No, this is not a sales pitch for services, just an experiment. Just click it and then act.

A bit about Michael

Michael Stratford, MCC is more than an ICF Master Certified Coach. He was a pioneer in the coaching profession. That same questing spirit keeps him curious about the next evolution of coaching and exploring that in his upcoming program, Evolutionary Coach.

He is an active ICF Assessor. Michael is a personal coach, business coach and executive coach, with the common theme of drawing out the uniqueness of each of his clients, so they can use their gifts and talents to further excel in their work and life.

Michael is a playfully engaging speaker, trainer of coaches with an international reputation for thinking outside the box, and evoking a shift in the ‘being’ of each of his clients. His unorthodox thought leadership has been a powerful asset for all his clients when challenging their limitations for success.

Contact Michael on how you might work together.

Posted by Michael Stratford in Takin Care of Business.

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