Boris is out. The big news of the week.
I hope you’re not expecting an opinion piece from me.
I’ll be honest:
I don’t really care.
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Exciting
I know I should care. I know should be up to date.
But there’s so much noise these days. If I kept up to date I’d be employed in nothing else.
The problem is the news.
News, unsurprisingly comes from “new”.
“New things”. It’s positioned to inform; to tell us what we need to know.
But does this hold true?
No. No I don’t think it does.
These days it’s almost exclusively noise.
It doesn’t exist to inform. It exists to excite.
Amused
News is entertainment. There’s nothing wrong with that of course- who doesn’t like being entertained- but it’s a useful point to recognise.
I used to be an avid checker of the news. In an idle moment, if not on social media, I’d browse the BBC website.
In my head I was being productive. I’m keeping informed I’d tell myself.
But that’s not true. Keeping amused is more accurate. Or even keeping distracted.
I’ve come to the conclusion it doesn’t serve me. I’m a couple years free of checking and feel much better for it.
Not only is it a distraction but it also warps our view of the world.
The news highlights the bad. That’s what gets eye balls. And there’s so much bad out there. The world is a big place.
This coverage increases the importance of the “thing” in our mind.
Take Boris leaving. It’s everywhere, naturally. And sure, who runs the company is somewhat important. But it’s not that important. I doesn’t effect our lives nearly as much as we feel it does.
The question, really, is what are you saying no to. If you’re consumed by this “important” thing, what is that replacing?
Costly
Everything has an opportunity cost.
Nothing more so than where we put our attention. And news sucks that attention.
I’m not saying the things that line newspapers aren’t important. Famines, war, suffering- it’s all important. What I’m questioning is whether it should all be important to us.
Because if everything is important then nothing is.
We end up living a shallow existence. Worried and angry about so many things that we can’t change anything.
To do something meaningful you have to choose. Choose one thing. Start there. You can always add later.
But for now, to really make a difference, focus. Less is more.
Don’t just do it to make a difference to the world. Do it for yourself. Because we feel bad when we’re helpless; when some terrible thing is going on in a far off land and we can’t do anything.
If you want to do something then do it. But drop everything else. Go to the foreign land. Focus.
That’s were fulfilment comes from: Caring and doing something about it. Not caring to no end.
Do something. That’s the message here. You don’t need to burry your head in the sand to everything else. But at least turn down the volume.
You’ll be amazed at what you find.
My Week in Books📚
Traction by Gino Wickham
I’ve been recommended this a few times. Very framework-y but good. Gave me lots to ponder on organisational structure etc. Would recommend.
Retreat by Nat Segnit
Retreat and retreats have been a growing theme in my life. This really gets into the details of why we seek retreat, and what retreat we seek. Enlightening.
I’ll be updating the books I’ve read this year here. Any recommendations? Let me know! See 2021’s books here.
A Final Thought 💡
“Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
- Steve Jobs