Why are we listening to so many damn podcasts?

Derek Sivers said, “if more information were the answer, we’d all be billionaires with six pack abs.”

Yet, we aren’t.

Why read that next article? Why listen to one more podcast? It’s probably a way to hide from doing the real work. Instead of listening to a new podcast, try re-listening to an old podcast.

There’s a famous speaker that has 50 stories. Those are the stories that he tells and he tells him well. He doesn’t need any more. At some point he decided that the key was better stories, not more stories.

So what does this mean for our podcast listening, medium bingeing, Fast-Company-addicted society? I think the answer requires a deeper level of understanding. Instead of listening to every episode of Tim Ferriss, try picking your favorite three guests and digging deeper into how they see the world.

For me, I wanted to figure out Seth Godin. I searched all the other podcasts he had been on and listened to them. I watched his videos on YouTube and started reading his blog and ordered some of his books. After a year, I felt like I was inside Seth’s head. I knew the main ideas the he mentions in every talk.

Operationally, this means that when I’m starting a project, I know what questions Seth would ask. I know he would wonder how I’m building virality into the product. He would ask how I’m creating a tribe around my product. There are countless other questions that Seth uses and the more I ask them, the more I begin to see like Seth.

Ideas are cheap, but a new perspective is invaluable. If your podcast addiction is jamming your mind packed with new ideas, take a step back. During this new year, think about your favorite three thought leaders. Pick ones you truly admire. Don’t just pick the richest, most famous hosts because they are the loudest. Pick someone you’d be happy becoming.

Now, go deep into their stuff. Watch their YouTube videos, read their books, listen to their podcasts. Stop trying to absorb 25 different voices. While it is important to hear from diverse perspectives, if you listen to everything, you become average. You need to go out on the edge. That is where greatness lies.