You probably read books, listen to webinars or podcasts, attend events or watch videos every week in order to learn, whether personally or professionally. At a minimum, you hope to take away an insight or two, or refresh/add to your perspective on a certain topic. Otherwise, why bother, right? When something really clicks, this insight turns into an epiphany.
I’m very intentional in how I continue learning, which is something I recommend you do as well. It’s the intentionality that makes all the difference. How intentional are you in your own learning? What do you do to make the most of every piece of educational content you consume?
At Tony Jeary International, we’ve developed a concept called the Impact Model that outlines the journey your brain goes on when it receives new information. The levels of the model include:
- Level 1: Insights
- Level 2: Angles
- Level 3: A-ha Moments
- Level 4: Epiphanies
When you read, listen, attend or watch something, you don’t always get to level 4 and come away with an epiphany. You might just get to level 1 or 2. That’s cool. Not everything in life is going to be life-changing, but our hope is that having this knowledge allows you to uncover more epiphanies in the future.
Here’s a quick overview of each level. As you become aware of each one, think back to times when you experienced the specific level with books you’ve read, podcasts you’ve listened to or presentations you’ve experienced.
Level 1: Insights
Anytime you intake information, you almost always gain an insight. Once you’ve gained an accurate and deep understanding of something (e.g. a new concept, how something works, a historical event, a story), this will oftentimes change, add to or confirm your perspective.
Level 2: Angles
Now that you’ve gained an insight, you start seeing angles that make this idea more impactful. Beyond knowing the perspective of the AUTHOR who first introduced you to this concept, process, event, story, etc., you now know YOUR new perspective. And now you can see many different angles that allow you to see OTHER PEOPLE’S perspectives.
Level 3: A-ha Moments
You’ve moved from seeing many different angles that allow you to see other people’s perspectives to having an a-ha moment. This a-ha is something that really wows you. Maybe you’ve made a comparison in your mind that makes this concept, process, event, or story make sense in your own life. You’ve moved from knowledge to application.
Level 4: Epiphany
Epiphanies are the best. These are life-changing concepts, processes, events and stories that will forever impact your successes as well as how you make decisions and form opinions. You’ve discovered the perfect way to apply this idea in order to get results.
If you want to learn more about epiphanies, read my article titled, “Epiphanies: Mental Miracles That Expand Your Thinking.”
How Orange Juice Became an Epiphany for Me
About 10 years ago, I genuinely thought orange juice was healthy for me because it was made from fruit. I drank a ton of that stuff. When I started looking into my health, I learned that orange juice had a lot of sugar in it. This was my insight.
I took this information and started asking people in my life who were fit to see if they drank orange juice every day. As you can probably guess, most did not. This was me gaining a new angle.
The more I thought about it, I realized I was drinking a dessert every morning. That’s the opposite of healthy. This was my a-ha moment.
If I was drinking a dessert every morning, what else am I drinking or eating under the assumption that it is healthy? No wonder I was gaining weight! This was my epiphany. So I changed my diet, and one of the first things to go was orange juice.
This story is not meant to convince you that orange juice is bad or that you should also give it up (although, it might). Rather, this story is meant to show you how learning one simple fact left such an impression on me, that it motivated me to start taking my health more seriously. I eventually lost 50 pounds.
Consume & Create Content with Epiphanies in Mind
When you consume content, position your thinking and your attitude to make epiphanies a possibility. It won’t always happen, but it can certainly happen much more often if you are prepared for it.
In addition, when we create content, we must aim to provide epiphanies for people. Make this a goal of yours, too. This will bring people back because they know you provide valuable information.
Tony,
I first encountered you at an event for the Plumbing Heating and Cooling Contractors several years back. I’ve since read some of your books and many of your articles. All of them have given me insight and angles. But a high percentage of them have given me a-ha moments and / or epiphanies. And for that, I thank you. There are many competing in your field, but you consistently rise above the fray.