Everybody wants more power; not in the negative, evil way, but as in more power over their lives, more power over their discipline, more power over their careers and success. If we can agree on a foundational level with the title of this article, then the rest of my argument will be coherent.
Gaining knowledge
If knowledge does equal power, then it’s a simple formula; to acquire more knowledge gets us more power. Then why aren’t we spending a little part of each day becoming more powerful? There are limitless amounts of free, or nearly free, resources to gain a skill, acquire more knowledge, or become a better person.
I’m not talking about knowledge as in following current events or watching the news. In fact, I say you should stop reading the news and only read books. The reason for this is that scrolling through a news feed is a passive, rather than an active action, which is scientifically proven to be a better way for your brain to function. YouTube is also a great source, but the vaunted rabbit hole exists and will probably derail you from your goal.
I have a recommended reading section on this blog that lists the books that helped me with my personal development. Browse through it and find something that sounds interesting to you.
Becoming Complacent
Right now, there are endless advertisements for subscription streaming services that only serve to pacify and distract you from utilizing your valuable time to gain more knowledge/power. You’ve always said, “Man, if I only had the time I would read that book, learn that skill, or get back into (insert passion) .” Entertainment as it exists today is a weapon of mass distraction meant to hypnotize you into regression, not progression.
People you idolize
90% of extremely successful people (my own statistic) are well-read and have a profound desire to learn and understand more than everybody else. They are never satisfied with just “knowing enough to be dangerous.” It’s been widely circulated that Bill Gates reads 50 books a year which, for someone as busy as he is, can’t be easy. He never said he “didn’t have the time to read.” You can surmise the importance he puts on gaining knowledge as a cornerstone of his success.
Gary V, a very influential hype-man and beanie-wearing motivational speaker, has been a proponent of obsessively studying your passion to the point where you know all there is to know about it. This follows the same general idea that says to become a professional, one needs to be put in at least 10,000 hours of practice. This applies to any industry or career without fail.
If you desire to become a digital marketing expert, you should have:
- a giant stack of books on your nightstand
- a queue of YouTube videos waiting to be devoured
- 100 LinkedIn messages out to professional digital marketers asking for their advice.
Your goal is to be a giant sponge that soaks up as much information as humanly possible.
Becoming Powerful
If you do not try to acquire more knowledge, then you can never attain more power. You will always be somebody that is dictated to by others. How to live, how to work, how to be happy. I don’t want anybody to settle for mediocrity.
The very first thing you need to do is take the Myers-Briggs type indicator assessment and figure out who you are. This is the foundational knowledge from which everything else blossoms. Once you do that, you can begin to direct your life towards that which gives you happiness, and utilizes your best characteristics.
Contact me if you would like a personal Myers-Briggs consultation.
To message me directly, find me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-arrigo/