Are You A Consumer Or Producer?

I received a compliment from Miss Blinkin recently that 1. caught me off guard and 2. caused some serious reflection. I can’t remember exactly what the conversation was that led to the kind words but that’s not important.

In a flirtatious baby voice she whispered, “You’re so smart. You’re the smartest person I know.”

I quickly tried to grab a tape-recorder so I could use these words as combat in future arguments but one such device wasn’t within reach.

“You know so much,” she added.

As flattered as I was, I couldn’t agree entirely with what was said.

It is true that I am knowledgeable in many areas but it’s in large part because I read a lot. I have always been, in the truest sense of the word, a consumer. I am an athletic, fairly attractive sponge. Much like a garage, I store both useful and useless things. On occasion, I’m able to pick up all of these things I’ve accumulated and arrange them in a way that impresses some. But does that make me smart?

What Good is Knowledge Without Action?

I have spent a lot of time reading and researching many topics and ideas but have spent very little time using this knowledge to get ahead. This is why I’m proud of my blog – because it’s a rare escape from consumption. Writing on Funancials is not only an outlet to pour out my thoughts, but it also gives me the ability to produce. You see – we all have this capability to produce, but how many of us actually do?

How many of you have a specific goal or dream? Assuming everyone is raising their hands, how many of you have actually put a plan into place to reach this goal? Why is this? What’s holding you back?

The First Step Towards Reaching Your Goal

There needs to be a balance in your life between how much time you spend consuming and how much time you spend producing. I recently noticed the imbalance in my life and decided to make a change. I realized I was spending hours scouring the internet – on personal finance websites and social media sites – but wasn’t doing anything with the information I was storing. In fact, it was a complete waste of time. The constant scrolling through status updates and relationship changes was bringing down my quality of life. I didn’t see the good that came from such consumption.

So I cut it out.

For example: I told Miss Blinkin to change my password on Facebook. Sometimes we, as humans, need help getting the results we want. I knew that I could stop visiting the site for a day or two but I would eventually return to my usual usage.

This change has been great thus far. I shifted some of the time I typically spent consuming and I now spend more time producing.

Now I feel smart.

Readers: My challenge to you this week is to make a change. If you are spending too much time consuming, come up with a plan to cut out the unnecessary. See if you can shift this time to doing something worthwhile.