Actually, excessive reading can be harmful. The importanceand pure joy of reading cannot be overstated. It is the quickest way tolearn something about almost anything. It can also be a trap. What’sthe problem?

• Learning      not Doing. Do you know someone whois book-smart but has no common sense? Do you know someone who hasthree advanced degrees, and never had a job? It is too easy to learnjust for the sake of knowing, but be unable to do anything with allthat stuff in your brain. Learning something for the pure joy oflearning is tremendous. But, if all you ever do is learn and never putthat knowledge into action, maybe you’re reading too much and actingtoo little.

• Information      Overload. 90 trillion e-mailswere sent last year. There are 250 million web sites to check out.500,000 books were published in 2009. As a society are we any smarter? As an individual do you ever feel overwhelmed?  Like a kid in a candystore, we have unlimited options butting up against limited time. Anefficient filtering system is all that stands between completeinformation overload and us. How do you choose?

• Afraid      to Act. With so much information fromso many sources, are you ever afraid to move forward on something? Areyou waiting for that one web site, that one book, or that one Tweetthat contains the magic bullet of success? Are you fearful of your ownintuition without written confirmation? There are more “experts” thanproblems. If you keep searching for the last thing that you need,you’ll be unable to act at all.

• Expert      Confusion. As noted above we are notshort of experts. But, just because someone claims to have the answeryou need doesn’t make it so. Following something you read from anysource without using your own intelligence and gut can put you in aworld of hurt. Reliance on others for all your important decisions canbe a downside of too much reading.

• Life      Takes Place Out There. I really love toread. Books, web sites, blogs, newspapers, magazines, anything withprinted or displayed words will grab me. But, lifedoesn’t take place on the Internet. Descriptions of someone else’s lifeor ideas are in books or on the Web. Your life is not. Don’t make themistake of thinking that reading about life is the same as living it.

With tongue firmly planted in check, I suggest too muchreading can be bad for you. Every once in awhile it is important to putdown, turn off, or walk away from all that information. Go meet lifewhere it really lives. Get input from unwritten sources. Experiencereal life and come back to reading with a fresh perspective.