If you’ve ever experienced even a twinge of information overload, here’s a unique solution that will get to the root cause of the problem once and for all.

From what I can see, most recommended solutions are Band-Aids at best. That’s because they only deal with the symptoms you’re feeling and not the root cause. So they never really eliminate the problem once and for all.

Since the cause of information overload isn’t obvious, let me ask you a question.

Back when you were in school, did you ever get nervous before a test?

Almost everyone I’ve asked has always said “yes.” Primarily because there’s always some worry about the information you’ll need to understand and hold in your memory once you sit down to take the test.

If you’ve ever asked a teacher "Is this going to be on the test?" – like when you had to memorize the times and dates of obscure Civil War battles – you know that feeling of anxiety.

Of course, the answer you were silently praying to hear was always "NO."

The reason is clear: You know what you know, but at that moment you were also keenly aware of what you didn’t currently know.

For most of us it’s what we know we don’t know that is so scary. And that fear never goes away no matter how many tests you’ve aced in the past.

The subtext of the question "Is this going to be on the test?" is another question: "I don’t want to waste my brains on information that isn’t relevant to my immediate future, so do I really need to know this?" The feeling is so prevalent in school because we often find ourselves studying and being tested on information in which we have very little interest.

Somehow, when we become entrepreneurs, we forget this survival mechanism from our past. Rather than getting very clear about what we already know and what we still need to know to do well (like we did when we were students), we chase scattered information from everywhere – considering all sources we think might have something useful to share. The net effect is we waste our time, our resources, and our intellectual capital in pursuit of new discoveries. And within the blink of an eye, we become victims of information overload.

There is an underlying cause for our haphazard information gathering and it’s resulting information overload. Believe it or not, it comes down to self-esteem.

You see, instead of trusting what we already know, we’re afraid of everything that we don’t know. It’s this fear that becomes the road that takes us off course. We’re trying to prepare for the non-existent test that has EVERYTHING on it and it leads us down a rabbit hole of procrastination that kills productivity.

You may even be on that “bunny trail” right now.

Serious online entrepreneurs are arguably still students themselves. They are searching for solutions and strategies that give them an edge. But it’s self-directed learning, so those of us who succeed develop the profitable ability to focus on what information matters most to our core business goals.

In baseball terms, entrepreneurs can “drive the fastball” when it comes our way, no matter the velocity. We know it is coming and we are ready when it arrives. But as soon as someone throws us a curveball by introducing something new, it challenges our comfort zone. We’re left flailing and unsure of ourselves.

Believe me, I know the feeling.

And that, my friend, is all it takes to get the anxiety wheels rolling. Doubt creeps in, self-confidence plummets, and market opportunity is lost. Spooky, isn’t it? And it can happen in an instant.

We’re left thinking and worrying about the curve ball as the fastball whizzes by. In shock, we ask ourselves, “How could this happen to me?”

This scenario occurs each day with business leaders who experience information overload.

Entrepreneurs are bombarded by information. Not all of it is beneficial to their business goals. Yet, if you try to absorb it all – if you feel a need to gain and retain all information – you’ll lose sight of what is most important. You end up frazzled and overwhelmed – the proverbial “deer in the headlights” paralyzed by fear and unable to avoid certain disaster.

The net effect of the info-overload is that we diminish our ability to discern the great from the good and, in the process, make ourselves mediocre by measure.

Through our abundance and ambivalence, we lose our business edge – and profitability suffers.

Don’t become a paralyzed entrepreneur mesmerized by the flashy headlights of all the information coming at you. You have to push yourself away from the bountiful harvest of information and only select what you truly need to fuel your business growth.

Another great way to look at it is similar to the way we are told to look at food. I’m sure you’ve heard the fitness mantra, “food is fuel.” The same can be said for the role information plays in your life. Anything more than you need will just leave you bloated, inefficient and insecure.

It’s time to start trusting your instincts more. You have to be confident enough to work intelligently toward your goals – whether it is passing an exam or developing a profitable Web site. What you absolutely must not allow to happen is to become paralyzed by the fear of not knowing "everything" and the fear of failure in the absence of knowing exactly what you must know and what you don’t know.

In fact, the ability to make decisions in the face of ambiguity (like this) is a key trait of successful entrepreneurs. Your expertise in this area comes from experience.

There’s an old adage: “No one is an expert in his own backyard.” It’s relevant for entrepreneurs who struggle with information anxiety.

Like Boy Scouts we should “always be prepared,” but we can’t assume that we’ll be perfect. We can’t possibly “know it all” and we can’t expect everyone to believe that we do, despite what Stuart Smalley tells us to repeat to ourselves in the mirror: “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and gosh darn it . . . people like me.”

So, value what you know already. It’s a lot more than you probably give yourself credit for. Real growth, the type that translates into wealth, is more often accumulated through your direct experience. You can search for more knowledge – Hey, I spend time daily searching for the latest and greatest ­ but I don’t discount the value of the wisdom I already possess, and you shouldn’t either.

Odds are, unlike me, you’ve never read a sales letter written to sell the knowledge you already have trapped inside your brain. But take it from someone who knows: If you had my close friend, world-class copywriter John Carlton, pitching your ideas, you would immediately place a lot more value on what you already know (You’d also get a lot more buyers).

Remember: You cannot conquer uncertainty by burying it with more information.

Wisdom comes not from devouring information, but by filtering it through personal experience and taking action on it. It’s the action or reaction, not the information itself, that makes us wise.

I have much more to share with you about this, but first I’d like to hear your thoughts.

Do you see this as a pattern in your own lives? Are you constantly devaluing your own knowledge – minimizing your own experience – in your quest for greater wisdom? Let me know by commenting on our blog.

What are some of your secrets for remaining confident and making decisions in the face of ambiguity?

How do you overcome the feeling of inadequacy when faced with overwhelming amounts of information that seem important, but you’re just not sure?

My readers are a sharp bunch. I know you’ll have some great tips and suggestions to share.

We’ll follow-up in another blog post with a continuation of this conversation. I’m looking forward to your ideas.

To Higher Profits,
Rich Schefren

P.S. The Attention Age Doctrine continues to move forward. Me and the entire Strategic Profits team are busily preparing the next installment. For a “retro” trip back to our previous media reports, get your keys to the Profit Vault here:

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