Do you know what intellectual poison is or what this looks like?

In our world, it comes in the form of forecasts, research reports, articles, books, seminars, webinars, tweets, videos, podcasts and many other flavours.

To explain my point, I rely on Leo Tolstoy’s book “A Calendar of Wisdom”.

He wrote, “The difference between real material poison and intellectual poison is that most material poison is disgusting to the taste, but intellectual poison, which takes the form of cheap newspapers or bad books, can unfortunately sometimes be attractive”.

To the cheap newspapers and bad books, I add the deluge of content that is thrown at you by well-meaning people of our industry and profession.

Avoiding this intellectual poison is a necessary requirement to have the time and energy to focus on what matters. It’s not easy – because consuming this poison is addictive and gives us a feeling of doing important work.

Thus, go on an Intellectual Poison Fast (IPF).

Start with a few hours first. Then a day. Then a Week and then Build a Habit of staying away from it completely. Because this fast will not only help you achieve better business outcomes but most importantly it will help you to focus on things that truly matter and the things that are in your control.