06/27/2025

The Benefits of Learning Smarter vs. Learning Everything

Knowing everything gets you nowhere

Pat Flynn is an entrepreneur, podcaster and author of several books. He is the founder of Smart Passive Income, where he has helped millions of people build their businesses and learn new skills more effectively. He has a diverse portfolio of businesses, award-winning podcasts, newsletters, YouTube channels and thriving online communities. He reaches and inspires millions of people each month and serves as an advisor to dozens of companies.

1. The power of just-in-time learning.

Most of us are information hoarders. We save articles to read later and bookmark resources just in case we need them someday. But this approach slows us down. When I was building my first business, I spent months researching every aspect of online marketing before taking any action. I had folders full of PDFs and bookmarks organized into categories, along with a massive amount of conflicting advice. The result: paralysis by analysis.

Everything changed when my business coach told me to focus only on the information I needed for my next immediate step. If I was writing a study guide, I only learned about writing and formatting. When it was time to create a sales page, then I learned about copywriting. This just-in-time approach allowed me to apply what I learned immediately, which made it stick better and yielded faster results. The key is to resist the urge to learn everything up front. Instead, identify your next action, gather only the information needed for that step then implement immediately. This creates a powerful cycle of learning and doing that accelerates progress dramatically.

Please select this link to read the complete blog post Next Big Idea Club.