Our Headspace is Precious
Our Headspace is Precious
How often do we take time to quietly reflect? How does our noisy world of social media influence and manipulate our emotional health?
“Your job is to make a unique contribution. Live a life of purpose… So that, after you’re done, everybody says, ‘the world was better because you were here.’” — Jensen Huang
Worth Listening To
Although these discussions had little to do with health, I kept listening over and over… and over some more. I am currently listening to the first one (again) while typing.
From the first video: “I never look forward from where I am. I go forward in time and look backward. The reason for that is it’s easier. It’s how you solve problems. You figure out what is the end result you’re looking for and you work backwards to achieve it.” (!!!)
If you recall my final post of 2023, 2024: What We Take with Us, I highlighted my favorite podcast episodes of the year. One of them was this incredible episode in which you have Daniel Kahneman, Michael Mauboussin, Annie Duke, and Josh Wolfe discussing pre-mortems — going forward to where you want to be, then looking backward, then asking, “What do I need to do to get here.”
You have these four incredibly intelligent people saying this, and now you have the founder and CEO of the third-largest company in the world (by market cap) saying the same thing — clearly, there is something here worth applying.
From the second video:
“People with very high expectations have very low resilience. Unfortunately, resilience matters in success. I don’t know how to teach it to except for, I hope suffering happens to you… I use the words pain and suffering in our company with great glee… You want to refine the character of your company. You want greatness out of them. And greatness isn’t about intelligence; greatness comes from character and character isn’t formed out of smart people, it’s people who’ve suffered… I would wish you ample doses of pain and suffering.”
I’ll end this segment by concluding: Today’s piece is largely about self-reflection. Taking the time to, a) look forward to where you want to be, b) look backward from there to now, and c) ask what steps you need to take to get from here to there. That content like this is free for us to consume to help us on our journey… it blows my mind.
Other Learning This Week:
Podcasts:
Tech’s Vibe Shift, TikTok Ban Debate, Vertical AI Boom, Florida Bans Lab-Grown Meat & More — All-In Podcast, Ep. 170
Their conversation on social media (40:38) is so incredible (Chamath was at the core of scaling Facebook), and important for today’s article below.
Derek Thompson: From Acting to the Eminem of Macroeconomic Analysis — “How I Write” with David Perell
AI’s Influence on the Economy with Nathan Labenz — “Econ 102” with Noah Smith and Erik Torenberg
Articles:
Trump Just Rug-Pulled the China Hawks on TikTok — Noah Smith
You Aren't Upset Enough About the War on Hyperlinks — Adam Singer
The Morning: Should China own TikTok? — NYTimes
What just happened in San Francisco politics? — Noah Smith (Guest post by Armand Domalewski)
On Twitter:
Fred Rogers on noise & reflection — Our world is so noisy, and self-reflection is incredibly difficult.
Cognition AI Releases DEVIN — Enabling everyone to be their own software engineer and creator
Conversations With a Personal Trainer
A fundamental belief I have is that we are far more likely to act when we understand the why. This belief is the core thesis behind offering metabolic testing at Envision Fitness. It was therefore enormously exciting to hear how much value one of you received in going through the results of your test, and what they mean for your nutrition, lifestyle, and exercise planning.
Going into the test, I knew he wasn’t terribly excited. He didn’t think he would learn anything he didn’t already know.
During his review he told me, “This was way more valuable and useful than I expected. Thank you for pushing me to do this.”
Being Healthy in an Age of Social Media
“The Greatest Form of Manipulation is to Convince Someone They Are in Control.” — Robert Green
Last year, I was attempting to figure out how to grow the Envision Brand and was thoroughly stuck. The answer was obvious, but I had resisted for oh so long: Social Media. To grow your brand, you need to be on social media. You need to make people aware you exist.
As we’ve discussed many times in the past weeks, maximizing your potential requires you to leave your comfort zone and do hard things. There is no other way. So, finally, on September 25th, I embarked on a new endeavor with this post on Instagram. It coincided with several other major endeavors, such as beginning this newsletter in early December. “It’s about the long game,” I kept telling myself. Much like starting a health journey, I knew it would take time to see results.
At first, it was almost fun: taking pictures and videos during training sessions, learning how to use Canva, and studying how hashtags work. Again, just like learning to work out for the first time, I was extremely inefficient. Some days, it would take me almost an hour to crank out one post and corresponding story. Nonetheless, it was still enjoyable.
However, I soon found myself remembering why I had largely avoided social media since college.
Taking Time to Reflect
Do you ever spend time sitting quietly and reflecting on your emotional state? I never seriously had in the past. This Blaise Pascall quote, “All of humanity’s problems stem from Man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” springs to mind. At first, Instagram didn’t seem to have many adverse effects. I would only use it on my desktop since I refused to download the app — The only social media app I would allow on my phone was Twitter. The beauty of using the desktop version was zero scrolling. I never scrolled. I uploaded my files, edited them in Canva, posted them, and closed the tabs. The end. But Meta is very clever. To post a story, you need the app. So, I capitulated and downloaded the app.
Scrolling is the worst. Not to mention the colossal time suck, as someone who already struggles with imposter syndrome, it’s easy to fall into doom loops of watching people only show their best selves (although yes, I do enjoy blooper videos). Like the crux of last week’s piece, social media brings my “fuck this” voice to the surface. Not to mention the ads. Every single one seems to be telling you there is something wrong with you and you must buy our product to fix it.
My wife, Jasmine got caught in this, and it was awful to see. Ozempic ads, Monjourno ads, weight loss ads, it was ceaseless. And no, not because she was searching for them. In the latest episode of the All-In podcast, they discuss the TikTok bill trudging its way through Congress. One of the things they debate is the degree to which these apps can ambiently listen to us. In other words, these apps that make money by targetting us with ads not only track the links we click and the searches we make but also the conversations we have.
While the discussion did leave room for the possibility that we’re not being listened to 24/7, the consensus was that we are. It’s also worth noting all four of these men have spent decades working in tech and Chamath was instrumental to Facebook being what it is today.
Our Headspace is Precious
How damaging were these targeted ads? Almost every day, Jasmine said, “I’m one day away from going on Ozempic.” She was miserable. I didn’t initially put two and two together, but eventually, she handed me her phone. Every three posts was an ad for weight loss! It was ridiculous. I immediately showed her how to block these specific ads. Within three days, she was feeling much better about herself.
But ads aren’t the only destructive, manipulative force on social media. Like being back in high school, social media is a game of social hierarchy. You’ve got 100K followers? You must be really important. You post videos showing off your six-pack and “10 Ab Exercises Everyone Should Do,” you must know what you’re talking about.
Meanwhile, instant notifications when someone likes our post create an obscene system of instant gratification that gets the user to keep posting and continues this feedback loop.
We’ve seen the damage this has had on our youth. Jasmine and I have discussed the restrictions we plan to impose on social media use with our own kids many times. But we’re still manipulatable as adults, too.
It’s Not All Bad
With all of that being said, I own a business. I would like to grow and scale it into new streams of income so that my income is not solely dependent on my time. But that is impossible if no one knows who I am. Moreover, social media has many positives as well.
On Twitter, I’ve read numerous posts of people cold DMing others to get jobs. This recent example was extremely heartwarming. In times of crisis, social media is invaluable for many people to check on their loved ones. And, my personal favorite, social media is an exceptional tool to learn new things. There are few places where people of all skill sets post their knowledge and expertise for us to consume freely.
It’s a terrible Catch-22: Social media can cause immense psychological distress, yet it’s essential for keeping up with the present zeitgeist, staying in touch with friends and family, building a network, and, yes, increasing brand awareness.
Crafting A Toolkit
If you’re conscious about your health, that certainly must involve your emotional health. How do you create a filter for yourself to reep the benefits of social media without it adversley affecting your health? I don’t have a good answer. I attempt to apply the following three things as well as possible, but it’s always a work in progress:
I am incredibly selective in who I follow on all platforms. Furthermore, when I can, I try to always use a chronological feed, or a feed comprised only of people I follow. This minimizes the adverse effects of the algorithm.
Secondly, if I’m in a headspace where I am struggling to stay focused, I don’t go on social media. I only have Twitter and, for now, Instagram on my phone. And my notifications are only on for Twitter.
Lastly, I identify each tool for what it is. Twitter, along with Youtube, is an unparalleled ecosystem for learning and interacting with people you want to learn from. The newsletters and podcasts I’ve discovered all came from Twitter. Instagram is for work. Teaching people I wouldn’t normally meet about health, while, hopefully, growing the Envision brand.
I’m sure you use at least one social media platform. How do you use it? Have you ever gone without it for a period of time? If so, did you learn anything about yourself and your use of social media?