We consume far more information and ideas than any time in history. We also spend far less time acting on any of it.

In my own life, I call this The Pinterest Gap (you’ll see why in a second).

But whatever you want to call it, it’s a recipe for killing our souls. 

If you’re not a Pinterest girl, keep reading anyway, because The Pinterest Gap is simply this:

Adding information without action.

I stopped using Pinterest regularly a long time ago. Not because I don’t find it fascinating or helpful, or because the ideas there aren’t interesting or valuable.

I stopped using it because my hands couldn’t keep up with my heart. 

After a few months of oohing and aahing and pinning ideas, I noticed that I wasn’t actually doing any of the amazing things I’d saved. Dissatisfaction pricked at the edges of my mind every time I opened the page.

So, I set myself a limit. For every 10 things I pinned, I had to actually do or buy one of them.

I quickly saw that this was impossible. So many ideas and so little time and money! So I increased the limit to 25 things. Surely, I could do that.

Nope.

So I raised the ratio to 50:1.

Still nope.

And that’s when I logged off for good.

Every minute we scroll, pin, read, or watch, we fill our hearts with more aspiration and ideas. We raise the bar of self-expectation higher.

Every minute we scroll, pin, read, or watch, we spend less time acting on hope and ideas. We drop the bar of self-accomplishment lower.

The cavern between our knowledge and our practice grows wider and wider until we fall deep inside, because the only thing that pours into that space is depression, inadequacy, dissatisfaction, and anxiety.

The prescription for this emotional flu? Closing the gap. Little by little, day after day.

Move the input bar lower. Guard the quantity and quality of the content you pour in to your heart. Refuse to pin another pin or read another blog or book until you’ve put something you’ve already learned into practice.

Move the output bar higher. Act on something you’ve learned — something you’ve always wanted to try — something you’ve been inspired to do, even it it’s small. Do it today.

You don’t need another book or plan or promise. You need to respond to what you already know.

Run away from a life of always learning and never changing, and you’ll add to your hope and joy.