I can hear the outrage in your mind.
Dear reader,
I’ve realised something recently: Reading non-fiction isn’t good for you.
You might have deleted this email or closed the article. I don’t blame you.
If you’re still here, thank you, let me explain my insight.
Reading for entertainment or escapism and being absorbed in a good book—there’s nothing like it. You lose yourself in the story.
Are you looking to learn a particular skill, such as building a computer step by step? A book is perfect for that too.
If you read business books and excel at identifying tasks to implement that will benefit your business, then that’s fantastic!
I’ve realised this for myself: Reading various non-fiction books and articles over the past 17 years has only confused me. I have many interests in art, philosophy, spirituality, personal development (for lack of a better term), Tech, AI and Business. I can easily get lost in methodologies and philosophies, so much so, that I lose direction.
This includes consuming any content, not just reading. No content is truly harmless, you’re taking in everything you watch, read and listen to and we don’t know how it affects us.
made a great point in her post “Why isolation is the secret to uniqueness”. For over 200 years, Japan isolated itself from the rest of the world and thrived during that chapter due to its cultural isolation and influence from other countries.
Applying this to your life is not about hiding away from the world but being aware of what information is being consumed (and influencing you). By isolating their influence, Japan’s culture bloomed within itself, positively, without outside influence. You too can bloom inside without influence, I know you cannot escape influence absolutely, nor should you, what I am saying is that you can at the very least, cut out the influences that don’t serve you. People today consume more content than any other time in history and are more confused, overwhelmed and burnt out.
Let me give you some concrete examples of how the content I consume has directed my thoughts, then actions:
I listen to AI podcasts and I started thinking that I need to sign up for a course from a guy who says you need to be a “GPT prompt engineer” to survive the next 5 years.
Is that so?Then someone shares this guy’s work, my mind is absorbed. “This guy knows his stuff about how the world works and how finance works,” it says. “I must sign up for his course to learn AI to save myself from AI job automation”.
Is that so?I started exploring art-related posts and videos and discovered an artist who achieved success by selling their work online. This drew me toward signing up for their course.
Is that so?Specifically on Substack, I found numerous posts teaching how to write and earn a living on the platform. I’m considering enrolling in a ‘How to Substack’ course.
Is that so?I came across the beautiful words and work of an author, which inspired me to read Atlas Shrugged. However, I felt overwhelmed by the colossal 1,192-page book.
Is that so?I saw ads for Lion’s Mane Mushrooms on Instagram and purchased some, thinking they would help me concentrate. Unfortunately, I found out that they could interfere with my medications.
Is that so?I suffer from respiratory issues now and again, I saw an advertisement for a breathing device that strengthens the lungs. I used it once, and now it serves as a reminder of my many distracted impulse purchases.
Is that so?I read something about starting a business that has a hungry market. They say you can drop-ship goods that people are eager to purchase. I get tempted to buy his drop shipping course so I can make enough money to leave my day job and pursue my art career.
Is that so?I read a book on using Kung Fu philosophies to become more assertive, then wanted to sign up for her productivity course.
Is that so?
Can you imagine how exhausting this is? At times I feel so overwhelmed I don’t know where to turn!
Ok granted, not everyone is as gullible dumb stupid easily influenced as I am.
The simple fact is:
If I hadn’t consumed the content, I wouldn’t have received the influence from that content.
You might want to read that a couple of times.
The above examples only happened in the past 2 months alone. The amount I’ve consumed over the past 17 years is colossal but I don’t regret any of it, because here I am today with the understanding I have. Sometimes you need to experience the thing, to know that thing isn’t useful to you.
Today, big businesses are thriving on our attention. I went on YouTube just now and the algorithm knows exactly how to get my attention.
I love Tech ✔️
I love Mind stuff ✔️
I like Business and Entrepreneurship ✔️
I like some finance stuff ✔️
My eyes like the words “Guru” and “Anti” ✔️
Feel the fear and do it anyway
There have been times when I’ve consumed non-fiction content and it’s moved me in the right direction. I had bad social anxiety as a teen and young adult and was truly suffering from it. Books like “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway” gave me the courage to go along to my first self-help group, which was 40 miles away in Bristol. As my confidence grew I attended Paul McKenna’s NLP training for 7 days, which led to doing various Landmark Education Seminars, which led to setting up my own self-help groups and helping people all over London, which led to the largest Shyness and Introversion Meetup.com group of its kind, in the world.
I feel that feeling of “feel the fear but do it anyway” when I recently enrolled on from Raising Clarity, her Private Year-long Coaching Group. The fear is no longer around talking to people or talking on camera, the fear is around creating and sticking to structures and having a plan. I was speaking to Beth about this fear, she reassured me that structuring is fun! She walks her talk.
My goal for the year is to set up an epic art exhibition at The Crypt Gallery in October 2025 and create a fun structure around my work. As an artist, and someone who is easily distracted, I’ve come to realise that structure is needed for me to move to the next level in my art career. Then I can apply the other things around selling my art when I’ve got the larger structure in place.
If you’d like to join me on the course, you can find out more here. I’ll be documenting my journey in my weekly art practice moving forward! (Note: There is a deadline to apply, midnight, Eastern time, on Sunday, August 18, 2024.)
Your North Star
My North Star is to have a thriving art career so I can leave my day job. Despite enjoying painting in my spare time for the past five years, I haven’t been satisfied; I feel a deeper pull towards pursuing art as a career.
If you’ve read this far you know that I’m not attacking reading per se, I’m attacking what we do with our attention.
As The Great Jim Rohn once said:
“You’re the average of the five people that you spend the most time with”
I’ll adapt it for today:
“You are the average of the five influencers you spend the most time with online and the content you consume.”
After reading this essay, you might see the term ‘influencer’ differently and proceed with caution.
Two questions for you: let’s chat in the comments…
Is your attention being taken away by many things like me? If so, how?
Where do you want to go in life? What is your North Star?
Best wishes to you, your friends and family,
