The Sum of All Advice is Zero

'The Sum of All Advice is Zero'

I heard this quote whilst listening to a podcast the other day and it got me thinking. How often do I find myself wasting time reading the same rehashed advice over and over? How often do I watch so many different how-to videos that by the time I'm done, I've gone full circle and absorbed enough conflicting information that I end up doing nothing?

Too often.

I remember going through a period of time when instead of going to the gym, I would just sit at home and watch YouTube tutorials. I had convinced myself that if I went, I’d be wasting my time as I clearly had so much more to learn. By the time I had closed my laptop and made that journey back into the weights room, I stood there mystified, like a melon, unable to sift through the mountain of information backed up in my brain. I had seen so many videos entitled ‘NEVER DO THIS EXERCISE’ or ‘THE ONE THING THAT IS STOPPING YOUR GAINS’, that I had no idea what was left to do. I probably just did some bicep curls and went straight home.

Sometimes, I find that seeking out more advice and information prior to starting something is actually somewhat of a sedative. A drug that keeps you in this happy limbo between doing absolutely nothing and actually cracking on with something. As though a lack of bite sized, oversimplified, click-bait guidance is the thing standing between you and your goals. As though seeking out more of this information is a genuine substitute for getting your heading down and taking that first step.

I think I understand why.

Being a passive recipient of someone else’s opinion is easy and risk free. You can’t fail at it. It’s comforting, addictive. Putting yourself out there on the other hand, putting in the work, taking risks – that’s tough. But it may actually get you somewhere.

Having the foresight to learn from those who have gone before you, in any venture or activity, is wise. Having the skill to find your way to the best and most useful advice out there, vital. But often underrated, in my opinion, is having the judgement to say ‘enough is enough’. Realising when you have reached the minimum effective dose of information, having the ability to properly absorb that information – not overload it – then taking the scary first steps to put it into play.

As the internet is now flooded with the same old motivational quotes and pieces of advice, circulating their way round the web again and again, I feel like the ability to shut it out is more important than ever. By getting stuck in the rut of watching and reading advice-piece after advice-piece, the very things we may be aiming for - Becoming more efficient, Making more Money, Building muscle – become more distant, as we remain sat on the sofas, glued to our screens, getting our fix of content that we feel exonerates us of our crime of doing nothing.

So I’m making a public pledge to myself to stop getting drowned in the mass of easy-to-digest BS, and just get on with it. To get out there and start failing and learning. To get up and act.

If you agree with me and also think you need to quit wasting your time reading too much advice from others, perhaps you should ask yourself:

Did I just waste my time by reading this?