DON’T READ BEAUTY MAGAZINES, THEY WILL ONLY MAKE YOU FEEL UGLY - BAZ LURMAN

The truth behind Baz Lurman’s famous quote is more subtle and its implications far wider than just glossy magazines and billboard image’s impact on body conscious women.

In some ways the mind is strong. It can be turned to achieve remarkable feats. Such as - free diving, extreme fasting, skydiving and Rubic’s cubes . It is strong but it is not entirely our own. It is infinitely malleable. It is constantly open, responding to stimuli, changing our behaviour in ways we are rarely even aware of.

Advertisers, have long known this. Marketeers understand this well. Magicians use it everyday.

The sequencing of hints, nudges, and reminders as we go through our lives are designed to ensure that when a purchase decision is made their product is not only top of mind but also associated with a particular feeling or ethic we can relate to, and so are more likely to purchase. This is as true as it is for your car as it is for your choice of washing powder. We know this to be true, that the mind is sensitive to its input, because there exists a multi-billion dollar industry that is built entirely on this facet o human existence.

The inputs we receive dramatically effect how we see ourselves, how we feel about our own actions and how likely we are to accept or change a given circumstance. We learn responses, and pattern our approach to life based on our inputs. Everyone knows Pavlov’s dogs, but fewer people know about Seligman’s slightly less pleasant ‘learned helplessness in electrocuted dogs’

Inputs are everything. Taking control of those inputs can change how we perceive obstacles and shape our approach to overcoming. Being mindful of your inputs can amplify our strengths as we move toward the ambitions and dreams we have. It can even help open those ambitions and dreams to a new range of exciting opportunities we had subconsciously denied ourselves. And it is easy to do.

But wait, what has this got to do with my Insta’ feed? C’mon, I’m sure the penny is dropping…?

With the digital experience so prevalent in our time we can curate our inputs to leverage this power to make changes. Not only has our exposure to other people’s PoV ever been greater, the flexibility of choice is also at its peak.

The Work

Self help is full of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) practitioners looking at triggers and framing to help manage and corral our fragile brain into achieving the dreams we have of future successes. That is a thing one does to oneself, so to speak. An internal game.

But we can also take better control of our external stimuli. Take a typical 24 hours and observe your inputs. It might look something like this:

Get up, listen to the news - or scroll through your current affairs blogs /sites. Commute with the daily free paper, or with 30 minutes of scrolling through the same. Browsing in your work breaks, scrolling through your feeds on your commute home, Netflix of an evening to unwind, final check of socials before bed.

Lets look at two ends of the spectrum of consciously deciding your inputs.

The Beginner : “Curating Your Feeds”

You are the curator. You have the power to manage and build an amazing series of inputs for yourself. A show guide to all the positive things in the world.

Set aside 30 minutes tomorrow morning, replace your usual browsing. Review each of your social media channels in turn. Critically evaluate what you are being shown and divide it into positive and negative. This division my sound easy but a stream of images of beautiful people living a digital nomad life on exotic beaches is a) unlikely to be authentic, (trust me I’ve been there) and b) can be undermining of your own self esteem and self worth, after all, why aren’t you living that dream of ukulele playing at sunset.

Time to curate your own personal magazine. You have the power of the follow and unfollow buttons. Use them wisely, for as we’ve seen, they will impact your day to day proclivities, behaviours and beliefs in ways you may not have even been aware of. Aim to cut at least 20% of your follow list, or 5 accounts which ever is more manageable.

Advanced : Current Affairs

Imagine waking a child every morning and in a stern voice telling them about all the bad things happening in the world, that they cannot control or rectify.

“Now Jonny, the world is full of corruption, disaster, and death, and your place in it is helpless. Off you go now, out to play, have fun out there.”

Ok, ok, a little stretched perhaps, but take a step back, just a little, and take a look at your news feed, your early morning radio habit, what are you actually learning about, and more specifically what are you doing with that knowledge. If it is usually fodder for dinner party conversation with like minded individuals then you’re not really solving the problem.

“Discussing politics is the gossip of the middle class”

Unless you are going to campaign, are genuinely politically active, or want to make a move into policy development, then following politics rarely serves a purpose beyond developing a rolling sense of low grade outrage and making you feel smart when arguing with other people about things you are not involved in nor can impact.

Like having an opinion about player decisions in football teams. It is not your choice, no-one cares about your view.

A string of bad news stories, and lets face it, media coverage is almost universally bad, over breakfast is a little toxic dose of learned helplessness

So what do we do about this? Well, live in Alaska as an organic vegan subsistence farmer, contributing to the energy grid from your home built ethically sourced wind generator. Too much? Ok, consider the hardline approach and take a ‘news diet’.

Doomscrolling and news consumption, like most of consumption, is a habit. So we can borrow from all the habit changing practices more commonly associated with quitting smoking or drinking and popularised by the likes of James Clear in Atomic Habits. (See the end of this document to watch a clip)

• Know when you are likely to pick up a news paper / turn on the radio / browse to your favourite channel

• Have an alternative ready to hand for these moments. When was the last time you got lost in a novel? Develop a “morning song” habit of choosing an uplifting tune, if you’re in a partnership, take it in turns. Have a back up playlist or station of positive tunes from Spotify or Amazon to flick to instead of your typical broadcast channel. Curate your favourites.

• Take a look at where you spend most time online and decide it is helping you or not.

• Explore replacements. There are organisations trying to turn the tide of negativity such as TED Talks and Positive News

Summary

• So, want a better you with out trying? Try a media diet.

• Decide your level of comfort with trying this out, basic or advanced and then, stretch your comfort zone a little, cut a little harder.

• Make a note in your diary, calendar, or if you’re trendy enough, journal, today and try a media diet for 4 weeks. Write down your intention, tell someone, anyone, the person next to you on the train, though that might be a little weird.