Is it possible to read TOO much?

My friends always tell me I have some weird theories. Like a few weekends ago at a wedding I was trying to calm the groom down and I told him that I think that brides and grooms are actually more nervous at the wedding rehearsal than they are at the real thing. I got a bunch of wacky looks from people, but whatever - that's neither here nor there.

I've recently come up with a new theory - if you read too much about a topic (specifically business) it will hinder your abilities. Here's where I'm coming from: I have spent the last three years reading every business book, blog, magazine, website, and forum that I can get in front of me. I've learned a ton about what it takes to be successful in business and I think I've successfully applied many of the things I've read.

But lately I noticed that I have been trying to do EVERYTHING I read about. If it works for company A, I start thinking "hey, I should do that." When you read 3 hours a day like I do, you have a lot of those "hey, I should do that's" and pretty soon your business plan looks like a freaking NFL Playbook. One thing I have learned from reading and from observation is that the best businesses have simple plans that are executed with precision. That's impossible if your plan changes every day because you read about a new technique that you HAVE to use now.

I'm sure that there are people who can absorb knowledge for the heck of absorption, but not me. I want to apply what I read and I often fall into the trap of trying to apply it all immediately. When I developed iPrioritize I made it a point to make everything about the company - the web site, the software, the marketing, etc - extremely simple. But since it launched last week I've been adding all sorts of wacked out stuff to my marketing plan until last night I realized I had about 25 weak marketing tasks that I probably wouldn't be able to execute very well for one reason or another, instead of two or three that I could.

I went to sleep frustrated last night and woke up and cleaned house. I came up with a new, simpler plan to grow my business that I will pour 100% of my effort into executing. That's the kind of plan I need to be successful. Unfortunately, when I read a lot my mind starts scheming and I start tweaking perfectly good plans. So as wacked as it may sound, I'm going to improve my business by reading less. I've learned a lot and it's time to start applying that knowledge before I go back to the well looking for more. I'll keep reading my favorite blogs, books, and magazines...and I'll always keep up on the news, but I think I can do that in an hour a day instead of three.

For a pretty logical guy I can certainly come up with some illogical theories :)