Learning Addiction

I realise my constant “learning” is often avoidance dressed up as progress, and it keeps me safe but stuck. I break down the difference between useful learning and fear-based consumption so we can move from potential to execution. 
• admitting the illusion of progress through nonstop learning 
• noticing the dopamine hits from books and videos 
• naming avoidance learning as self-protection and hiding 
• separating useful learning that leads to action 
• using the 48-hour rule to stop banking ideas for “later” 
• dropping perfectionism and starting before you feel ready 
• picking one skill for 30 days and practising it 
• using just-in-time learning to solve real problems 
• shipping something weekly to build momentum 
for your homework, I want you to do one action today 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:17

I have an addiction. Not the kind you're thinking of. But mine is and was an addiction to learning. The learning that I thought was pushing the needle forward. It's the illusion of progress. Think of it as like productive procrastination that isn't very productive. My name is Tina, and this is episode 51. Today

Confessing A Learning Addiction

SPEAKER_00 0:51

I'm talking about how I'm breaking out of the learning addiction, the loop that has kept me stuck. And basically, I'm breaking out of student mode. How many of you have been in school over and over and over and you know what to do? So I guess I'm a student of life, and I have been learning and learning and not applying. So now I'm it's time to break out. So I wanted to share, like, okay, I've been grinding, you know, and I'm thinking, oh, that's work. I'm doing work. The whole time the needle might move maybe a tiny bit up, but mostly it it moves down because I feel like it's time consuming, so I'm losing time. And I thought, you know, I was grinding. So I'm I'm leveling up. That's in my mind. Okay, I'm grinding, I'm learning, I'm leveling up, I'm reading, I'm watching videos. I was stuck in this loop of learning the same things over and over. You know why? Because it felt safe. It kind of kept me hidden. And then I actually learned something that I didn't know. Watching videos, reading books give you tiny little hits of dopamine. I never thought of that before. So I'm addicted to the dopamine. And there, you know, there are a couple types of learning. There's

Dopamine Hits And Feeling Safe

SPEAKER_00 2:35

useful learning and avoidance learning. Now, I don't know about you. I don't know if you relate to this. Avoidance learning, it's just the difference is it's tied to fear. You're avoiding something to feel safe. It's like a self-protection, so I was trying to protect myself. You know why? Because when you're just learning, you feel like you're progressing, but you're not really taking the risk. You're not putting yourself out there. You're staying hidden, not exposed. And though it sounds safe, it doesn't get your needle to move. Useful learning, it makes you more capable. It's tied to action. So once I just discovered this about a week ago, my life has changed in a tremendous way. And so you're probably like, well, what do I do? And I I had the same questions, and then I looked up ways to help. What is the solution to be unaddicted? Addiction? It's so strange because just

Avoidance Learning Vs Useful Learning

SPEAKER_00 4:07

saying I'm addicted to this sounds weird to me, but I am. From the morning I wake up till I go to bed. That's all I listen to, watch. I may throw in a Dr. Phil, but I guess that that's the same thing. I don't even watch shows for fun anymore. It's always about learning, learning, learning without much action. And that's what the difference is. So I did write down the solution somewhere. So please hold. Let me get those solutions for us here because there are so many. And I'm just gonna list list list a few of them because there are many more. So maybe in some future episodes. So these are the ones that I'm actually putting into practice right now. And the first one is the first solution that you can do is the 48-hour rule, which is huge for me. I have notebooks and screenshots of things I'm gonna do in the future. It's so if you're not gonna do it within the 48 hours, then don't waste your time learning it. And then there was another thing, and this is gonna be this is big for me. How many times did you wait till everything's perfect to start something?

The 48 Hour Rule For Action

SPEAKER_00 5:25

Okay, like just like I explained in my last episode. If you're like, for instance, making a video, some of you might, oh, okay, I gotta fix my hair, I gotta fix the lighting, I gotta fix this, I gotta do that. By the time that's over, you've kind of lost your raw moment. And so you start doing the thing first, like how I've started doing the podcast, but then I still don't know how to edit. So that would actually be useful learning. So in the next 30 days, that is the one skill that I'm going to pick that I'm going to work on. For me, it's video video. See, I can't even edit that out. I don't know how yet, but I will. It's video editing. So for the next 30 days, that's the skill I'm gonna work on. Now there's a couple other solutions. The just in time solution. Like, okay, so let's say you're having a problem currently, like right now. Let's say you're fixing something or you're putting a radio into your car. God bless you if you are. I don't know how people do that. So you're putting a radio in the car and you don't know where one wire goes to the next wire. So then you watch

Stop Waiting For Perfect

SPEAKER_00 6:47

a video to learn how to do that. That's useful learning. You're not avoiding anything. I have notebooks and notebooks. I've been doing this for since 2018. In 2024 of December, I started taking action steps and doing. And then I was learning probably for three, four months now, just learning, learning, consuming with very little production, missing opportunities because I was afraid to start or I wanted to just hide. Because my mind felt like, okay, well, I'm not wasting time, I'm learning. This is progress. It was avoidance. That's the big difference. Once you realize some of the learning you do is avoidance, I believe that's going to be a huge switch shift in your life. Okay. Let's say you're writing a book. Put something out about you writing your book. Or if you have a deal with somebody, put out like maybe they want a couple pages. Put out something every single week. Take the action. If you're learning how to do spreadsheets, put out a spreadsheet.

Just In Time Learning And Weekly Output

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Hey, this is what I learned. If you're a podcaster, put out a podcast every week. Just do something every single week in the action side. I know it's hard, and I didn't even realize this was a thing. And then that's why I wanted to share it with you today because I didn't even know I could be addicted to such a thing, and I even feel silly saying it. But now my mind is like, aha. It's like a huge epiphany, it's a huge game changer for me. And that's why I wanted to bring it to this podcast and talk about it and help others. Maybe it'll help you because I know it's going to be very helpful. It's already started. It's very useful. So if you are addicted to learning, it's time to execute. We're going to take more action. Wow. I still, I'm sorry. I'm like not sorry, but I'm dumbfounded. I'm sitting here trying to talk to you guys, and I just realized this and I can't even believe. So basically, you're going from your potential to actually execution. Because you're afraid inside. You know why? Learning feels safe. You don't have to do anything. There's no risk, there's no exposure. And that's the difference. Hopefully, this helps you today. If it does, stay tuned to my uh next episodes, my old episodes where you'll watch me grow. I help to put out and help anybody with these kinds of things. I do help women break toxic patterns and just helping us break patterns that keep us stuck and in the loop. Thank you for listening, and you guys have a good week. And for your homework, I want you to do one action today.