The First Step to Improve Your Life Is To Stop Watching the News (And What To Do Instead)
A hard life is not enough.
You gotta have an extra-hard one.
You gotta upload the world’s problems into your head. Daily.
- Floods in Somalia
- Mass shootings in the US
- Forests burning down in California
It’s addictive.
It’s like driving through a car accident. You don’t wanna look. But you do.
Why?
You’re addicted to bad sh*t happening.
Negativity sells too well
I’ve been living in Ireland for more than 5 years.
It’s safe.
But it’s not always safe.
So, how does the news here grab your attention? With violence. Loads of it.
When a gang of teens beats up people in city center, they jump on it like fat people at an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Not just once. Multiple times. Over and over again.
So when I see loads of reports saying people are getting beaten up in city center, yeah I’m afraid to go out. But this fear doesn’t make sense. It’s the result of filling my brain with useless sh*t for too long.
And I can’t read just one article. I have to read all the articles. All the posts on social media. All the comments about even more people getting beaten up.
And the more I read, the more afraid I am. An endless hell-cycle.
And it’s not just you, me, or Johnny over there.
We’re all addicted to bad sh*t.
And bad sh*t gets loads of clicks. Loads of clicks lead to news companies showing more ads. News companies showing more ads means more money to them.
There’s no higher goal here.
The only goal is to make money as fast as possible.
Thinking you’re “well informed” brainwashes you into thinking you’re well informed
If I see the headline “gang attacks people in the city center” I’ll click it.
Once I read it, it’s all I can think about for 3 weeks.
“Am I gonna be attacked today? Tomorrow? Should I carry a knife, pepper spray, or have the police on speed dial?”
Then my wife suggests we go to the city center.
“F*ck. I haven’t picked my weapon!”
Now, my anxiety is through the roof.
Then I think, “Why can’t I have normal anxiety? Why do I need to keep adding gas to the fire until it turns into a Burning Man Festival?”
And you wanna know what’s funny?
I’ve never been attacked.
Paranoid? Always. Attacked? Never.
And you can apply this to many scenarios:
- Daily microscopic updates about the Russia-Ukraine war today.
- Breaking news about why Netflix is a bad investment today.
- Updates on every tragedy happening in the world, like the latest floods in Italy. Or raging fires in Canada. Or the latest celebrity breakup in Hollywood. Today.
99% of it useless. Zero impact on your life. Feeling miserable is guaranteed.
But still… Some people are convinced they need the news.
But I wanna know what’s going on in the world!
When people justify consuming the news, it’s always the same vague argument:
- “Closing your eyes and ignoring what’s going on in the world doesn’t improve your life!”
- “News are a great way to have something to talk about in social gatherings!”
- “I feel the need to watch the news because I want to follow politics!”
- “It’s important to know what’s going on in the world!”
- “You have to stay informed as a citizen!”
You see, these reasons rely on a single thing. That it “might be useful in the future”.
It’s about some fairy tale scenario where one piece of information (out of the 176 you hear every day) will change your life forever. Possibly making you millions in the process.
Sorry… It. Won’t. Happen.
Anyway… Suppose you wanna stay “up-to-date” (whatever that means) with the news.
I’ll give you 2 ways to do that.
- Get caught up with the news at most weekly. That way you filter out 99% of the daily bullshit. You’ll still get a lot of useless information, but it will be “““only””” 50%. Instead of 99%
- Or you could buy Sunday’s newspaper and wait a week before you read it. Put it in a drawer somewhere and wait 7 days before you open it. That’ll give you a good idea of how useless most of it is after a week.
But… there’s an even better way to spend your limited time on Earth.
What to do instead of following the news
Imagine you’re on your deathbed. You think back to how your life went…
Are you gonna be proud your biggest accomplishment in life was to follow the news for 40 years?
No. You’re gonna regret it distracted you from what matters in your life.
You’re gonna regret you didn’t spend more time with your kids, your partner, your hobbies.
So, what do you do instead of following the news?
You definitely do not go on TikTok or Instagram. That’s news consumption on steroids.
You gotta choose low-dopamine activities:
- Read a book
- Go outside and touch grass
- Surround yourself with positive people
- Learn a new skill (you don’t have to monetize it)
Justin Welsh thinks the same way:
The daily news is miserable.
So I surround myself with:
• Great books
• High performers
• Uplifting podcasts
• A motivated community
• A positive LinkedIn audience
I’m going to brainwash myself before the world can.
What this means for you
It’s been 7 years since I stopped following the news.
Can you imagine the amount of useless sh*t I missed in the past 7 years?
* quick mental math… *
2,000 hours.
It feels good to know I stopped myself from wasting that many hours of my life.
And this is something you can feel too.
You just gotta give it a chance.
Don’t start your day making yourself feel angry, anxious, or think the world is going to sh*t.
Start relaxed. Start your day:
- doing yoga,
- reading a book,
- or just watching the landscape.
Give your mental health a chance to recover.