I constantly get messaged by people asking me questions because they’re “planning on starting a podcast” or they’re “going to” write a book.
Years have gone by and I neither see nor hear anything about either of these things for many of the people I have these conversations with.
What’s up with that?
In my last article, I mentioned how when we tackle the easiest steps of a large task or project first, dopamine is released from the brain’s reward center and we get a sense of victory and accomplishment.
This, in turn, gives us the momentum to move forward and tackle harder tasks (I really recommend reading the post).
However, the reverse is true.
What do I mean?
The brain also releases dopamine when you’re learning something. Learning new things that interest us can be intoxicating and very rewarding, and dopamine levels increase in the brain to help us retain that new information.
This is why so many people can feel like they’re doing something JUST by learning about it…
…but never take any action to implement what they learn.
Ever felt pumped up after reading something and like it all makes sense to you? This is why.
Ever heard of slacktivism? This is, more or less, when people share hashtags or posts on social media to draw awareness of something, but we don’t actually do anything concrete to take steps in the situations we’re posting about.
Unfortunately, a lot of us don’t realize that merely learning something is not the same thing as putting it into practice or doing something about a cause.
We have all sorts of spiritually fat believers who are full of spiritual book knowledge, sermon and conference knowledge, the latter of which can give us a spiritual high that lasts a week or two before life goes back to normal.
But many of these Christians don’t actually intimately walk with God for themselves.
A friend of mine in the publishing industry once said to me half-jokingly that if I wanted to make a ton of money to release a book about hearing God’s voice because it will sell like hotcakes. There’s a market for those who don’t know how to and pay money to learn to do it.
I’ve anecdotally heard others say that at conferences they’ve held where attendees can choose different sessions, that if one is offered on hearing God’s voice, it will be the most popular and people will flood into the room for that one.
[clickToTweet tweet=”Believers are desperate to learn to do this BASIC function of the Christian life.” quote=”Believers are desperate to learn to do this BASIC function of the Christian life.”]
Jesus said,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Considering this is stated in the present continuous, and does not say “man shall live by every word of God that’s written down in a book”, it’s interesting to me how many of my fellow brothers and sister in the faith don’t live off of the voice of the Lord for themselves as easily as they eat physical bread.
But can feel as though they are vicariously through other means like books and their favorite preachers.
With regard to goals, such as writing or even starting a podcast, don’t confuse learning about it with taking action.
If you want help with writing your book and having a coach who will kick you in the pants, reach out to me and see if we’d be a good fit. Book a call with me here —> Meetme.so/SteveBremner.
