Think Your Own Thoughts

My Spotify wrapped said that I listened to 22,276 minutes of music and podcasts, more than 75% of other listeners in the United States (according to them). That's about 62 minutes per day on average. I thought that was on the high side, until friends started posting their data. One guy had over 180,000 minutes listened. That works out to be over 8 hours per day!

We are all consuming so much content. Music, podcasts, videos. Endless scrolling through short-form video. It's easy to check out and distract ourselves from daily life. It's mind numbing. But is that good?

As is true with most things, it's fine in moderation. For me, when in excess, I spend so much time smoking and absorbing other people's content that I subconsciously accept their thoughts, biases, and opinions as my own.

My most notable obsession was with GaryVee. I watched every video, bought every book, and heard every podcast. There were times where I could predict how he was going to answer a question with almost word-for-word accuracy. The hustle porn king had me hooked. I've gone through other phases. Casey Neistat, Peter McKinnon, and Andy Frisella to name a few.

All of those phases of fascination were started with good intention. I was following their lead in taking steps of self-improvement. I wanted to do what they were doing. But after hundreds of hours of learning how to be them, I made very little progress in learning how to be myself.

We need to take time to unplug and think our own thoughts. We're conditioned to seek out the shortest path to dopamine and meditating on our own musings is the scenic route.?I have deleted TikTok so many times only to redownload it in a weak moment of feeling uncomfortable in my own head.

I have tried and failed multiple times at sitting in silence and meditating with the help of the Headspace app. What has worked recently, though, is going on a walk, just me and my dog. 45 minutes of just the sounds of her collar jingling, the whoosh of cars passing in the distance, and birds chirping from the trees along the path.

During those walks I dream up what my future might hold, solve problems I haven't the attention to handle, and come up with topics for the newsletter you're reading right now. Sometimes I just let my mind wander and then focus in when I've thought of something interesting. Giving myself that mental space allows me to really practice self awareness and that simply wouldn't be able to do otherwise.

We've been blessed with the gift of life. I intend to make the most of mine by living as true to my self as I can. I'd urge you to do the same, but is that what you would do? Decide for yourself. Think your own thoughts.

Originally posted on weeenzy.com. With a better title ;)

Thank you for reading!

If you are not a member of my newsletter, consider subscribing if you liked what you read! It's totally free and really makes my day. Sign up here:

Shoutout to Leo N., a new subscriber. Thank you and I appreciate you!!