In technology reporting, they refer to devices such as smart phones, tablets, laptops and eReaders as being either lean forward devices or lean backward devices. In short, lean backward devices are those we consume information on (like a Kindle, Nook or TV) and lean forward devices are those we primarily create on, like a laptop or desktop computer.
As business owners, we have to get the balance right, regarding how often we lean backward or lean forward. Yes, it’s extremely important to learn but it’s vital to our success, to do something with all we have learned. Gathering knowledge, but then refusing to lean forward, take action and use it, is a shocking waste of your time and so much less than you deserve.
Knowledge is not power!
Passively consuming will certainly gain you knowledge, but knowledge by itself is not power. Knowledge only acquires power, when it’s acted on and very, very few people persistently take action.
As the former US President, Calvin Coolidge famously said:
Press on! Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing in the world is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
It has never been easier or less expensive to get the information you need, in order to succeed, than it is today. You have a world of information at your fingertips. The question we must ask ourselves is, what are we going to do with it?
For those of us who are serious about developing our businesses, passive consumption is not an option.