Are You Playing With The Stuff You’re Collecting?
I recently moved into a new apartment and I’m still unpacking boxes. Mostly boxes of books that need to be unpacked and put onto shelves. The process got me thinking…
What if instead of keeping and curating the books you’ve purchased over the years, you had to keep and display the knowledge and lessons and ideas you personally gleaned from the books (waitaminute I’m not done) — and actually put into action?
How many bookcases could you fill?
Could you even fill a single shelf?
Most folks collect things simply to show them off.
Trophies, certificates, degrees (and books) but far fewer of those people put the knowledge they collected to daily use, and too few of them build on the ideas to make them their own and bring the concept to a new and higher purpose. They think:
- That stuff might have worked in the classroom, but it’ll never fly in the real world.
- That stuff looks good on paper, but it’s impractical on a daily basis.
Putting the ideas into action is the entire purpose
- It’s like the guy who collects Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars but never races them.
- It’s the gal who collects comic books, and puts them into Mylar sleeves without ever reading them.
- It’s the kid who collects action figures but never opens the package to construct imaginary battles in Gotham City.
If you’re not going to play with the stuff you’re collecting, what’s the point?
