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How To Survive Being Overwhelmed From Too Much Information
“TMI” has always stood as an acronym to mean “Too Much Information,” but more specifically related to information of a personal nature. We can all agree that today’s “technology age” tends to serve us far more information that any one person could be able to consume.
In today's society more than any other time in history, man is working overtime to compete for our attention. The recent cryptocurrency craze proves this very point. In this example, lots of people with no prior experience or credentials in economics became “overnight experts” in the crypto space. These “experts” began dolling out investment advice that lacked any credibility whatsoever.
Social media does a great job in competing for our attention; it often causes us to ignore what is going on around us. The longer you remain “engaged” on a site, post or within a video or podcast, the better served the content creator is. Internet marketers are explicitly trained to capture and hold your attention.
As real estate investors, the offerings to us are unlimited, today it seems everyone has a new tool, app or template that is guaranteed to make things simple, easier or faster. Such promises often fail to deliver thus the student hunts for another new teacher to sell them on the next new idea.
The reality is that the same information put out 50-60 years ago or longer, still applies today. The big “secret” is that there truly is no “big secret.”
Information Overload Survival Steps:
Step 1: Decide your investor identity and stick with it. Pick a commodity to invest in and focus only on that. Stocks, Residential or commercial real estate, land, notes, whatever, pick one and concentrate there.
Step 2: Avoid social media as a learning platform. Social media was intended to be social, not to be a university. Opinions are what comes from social media which often have no basis in fact.
Step 3: Read books that are directly related to your investor identity. In my opinion, those who take the time to write books tend to invest far more time into research before the book is published because they know that once released, the writing becomes “permanent.”
Step 4: Take immediate action by stepping out into the marketplace. Don't take the first piece of advice you receive as 100% fact based, ask local experts for additional feedback.
By avoiding social media as a learning platform, you will find it easier to learn without distraction and therefore be more focused on achieving your goals. By remaining focused on your investor identity, you stay “between the lines” and will reach your destination far faster and with much less grief.