Avoid brain worms: How to choose your inputs
Left unchecked, your media consumption will wither you to an thirsting, unmotivated lay-about believing you’re on your way to your million-dollar dreams. No effort required.
But the promises are not true. You’re consuming marketing media and it’s ruining you.
The internet promises a lot.
Too many ways to get rich. Too many things to aspire to. Too many people to emulate.
So here are some rules to avoid wasting precious time consuming negative media influences.
If the title of the content includes a dollar amount, do not click.
“My $20k/month writing routine” NOPE!
“This Etsy idea made me $3million” NOPE!
If the title of the content includes promises of success or riches, do not click.
“How to gain 100k followers in 1 month” NOPE!
If you spot a link to an online course, be on guard. If the course promises anything other than a specific skill, like financial gain, leave immediately.
If it’s purely aspirational lifestyle content, avoid it.
“A day in my life as a FAANG UX designer” NOPE!
Insidious lifestyle brainworms
It’s a sub-conscious desire at first—Influencers flaunting a fancy lifestyle. Someone showing their Shopify dashboard.
It becomes more active once you get pitched to buy courses promising to make you rich with little effort. Or you start to believe a 20-year-old owns a multi-million dollar empire.
It all seems so easy. But the ease is a packaged product and it is sold to you.
We’re wired to expend as little energy as possible in the pursuit of things we desire. Many people on the internet take advantage of that. And we are drawn to their promises.
Riches and success are not easy. Some may get lucky and fluke into them, but for 99% it takes at least dedication, if not extreme hard work, and years of time.
Anyway, stop letting Internet media shape your desires and your sense of what you should do with your life. If there’s a promise to make money off of a thing you’re considering buying, it’s a red flag.
The internet promises a lot, but takes away more.