The Pandemic Of Consumption

How much are you consuming?

And how much are you actually CREATING?

What was the last thing you intentionally created that wasn’t handed to you on a plate?

You wake up at the same time everyday because your job makes it mandatory.

You have the same routine every morning because you habitually picked it up as you grew older.

You get home and watch either your phone or TV until you go to bed (or even in your bed) before you go to sleep.

You go on your phone whilst you wait for your Steak to sear in the kitchen.

Everything you do is a habit you’ve unintentionally picked up or a subconscious trigger to avoid some description of discomfort.

And in most cases, it’s boredom.

It’s far more attractive to make the easy choice at the time, as there’s no perceived instant outcome to making the harder, more strenuous choice.

And that’s why you’re walking around like a subconscious zombie 24/7.

You’re never doing anything INTENTIONAL (unless you have to).

I mean, why sit there and think about life,

Your goals & how you’re going to accomplish them,

Or what you’re going to do for the rest of the day, or at the weekend,

When you can sit and watch something far more stimulating on your phone?

Is that really what you want?

To fill your life with the consumption of nothing, just for the sake of avoiding doing something that will actually move your life forward?

Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.

You want to create that business but it’s much easier to sit there and mindlessly scroll on your phone.

You want to do that revision but you keep watching TikTok whilst hours pass by because you’re not ready for the discomfort of sitting there looking at books with no stimulant yet.

And the next thing you know, it’s time to go to bed.

“Okay, tomorrow, I’m going to make a change.”

Tomorrow comes, and guess what?

Nothing changes.

It’s an endless treadmill of hedonism.

EVERYTHING IS HABITUAL,

And it’s the reason you’re never creating anything.

If you sit there doing that same thing every time you intend to do something different from your norm, time is going to fly by, and the next thing you know, you’ll be on your deathbed wishing you did more.

And because it’s easy to put things off until a later date,

And lie to yourself.

You won’t do anything.

YOU NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE.

When was the last time you stood there and INTENTIONALLY created something?

A business.

A routine.

Even something to do at the weekend?

A good way to look at this is with percentages.

How much are you currently consuming compared to creating?

Is it 75% consuming and 25% creating?

90% / 10%?

Whatever it is, I can guarantee you’re not happy with it.

Unless David Goggins is subscribed to my newsletter, that is.

First, understand your personal ratio.

Second, identify the triggers that lead to your consumption.

Third, eliminate those triggers to the best extent you can.

And finally, find your why.

If you don’t inherently know WHY you want to eliminate the amount of random content you consume, then you’re never going to be able to minimise it.

You’re fighting against billion-dollar tech machines, which have put BILLIONS into keeping you on their platforms for as long as possible.

Hacking into the human psyche to understand exactly what keeps us craving more, and with a constant jitter to pick our phone up again.

If you can’t fathom why you want to stop consuming so much, how is anything going to stick?

You’ll just be back to your old self.

And this is the circle to why no one ever makes a significant change in their life as much as they may want to.

“Some people die at age 25 and aren't buried until they are 75” - Benjamin Franklin

It’s never going to be easy, and of course it needs discipline, but if you want to start creating ANYTHING, the amount you consume needs to be addressed.

If it were easy, everyone would do it.

Be a producer, not a consumer (although it’s still good to consume sometimes).

Don’t mindlessly waste your life being a feather in the wind.

Do something intentional.

-Oli