Okay so you’re either going to find this boring and obvious or life changing.

Anyway, here it goes:

Content is not the solution to any of your problems.

Yep, I honestly used to believe this.

And we just have to head over to the Kindle bestseller lists to see that I’m not alone with this. There are thousands of bestselling books that promise to solve a specific problem for the reader.

This is such a compelling idea. You pay just $4.99 for this ebook, spend a few hours reading it and BOOM problem solved.

Same with YouTube videos, tweets, and podcasts. Here the pitch is even more compelling since you have to invest zero money, just a bit of your time.

And I still have this impulse. Whenever I’m struggling with something or feel stuck, my first instinct is to search for content that may provide the answers I’m looking for.

Oftentimes I don’t even have a specific question or a problem I can properly articulate. It’s often just a vague feeling that I should learn more about, say, marketing or fitness to become unstuck.

But now that I’m a bit older I realize that this never worked.

I’m not saying there is zero value in learning from other’s experiences. It makes sense to learn the basics.

But the basics are always simple and can be learned in an hour or so. Anything beyond that is just a waste of time.

For example, when it comes to marketing you should know what a funnel is and that you should explore different channels until you find one that works. Or when it comes to fitness, you should have a basic understanding of how this whole calorie thing works and of concepts like progressive overload. Or when it comes to entrepreneurship, you should be aware that the keys are building something people want, finding a way to build it, and figuring out how to educate people about your solution.

Once you’ve grasped the basics, you almost immediately hit a point of diminishing returns.

The only real way to make progress and solve your problems is by taking action.

It’s just that this is not what we’d like to hear. Consuming content is so much more comfortable than actually going to the gym, exploring a new marketing channel, or starting this new venture.

It’s simply a form of procrastination. Only real-world actions lead to change and progress.

So stop looking for that magic bullet or magical spark of inspiration. You’ll never find it in a YouTube video, course, blog post, podcast, or ebook.

And yes, I do realize how ironic it is that I’m publishing this as a blog post. But I’m really just writing this as a reminder to myself.

Just yesterday I caught myself yet again mindlessly browsing through the self-help section on Amazon.

Don’t do that. You always already know what needs to be done. Reading will not help you build up the confidence to actually do it. It’s just a distraction. It’s a waste of time and removes you farther from your goals.

Deep down you already know what needs to be done.

Do that instead.