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Happy Friday Friends,

This morning I read the below Tweet. I’ve excluded the author from the screenshot because it could be any of the current group “motivational influencers” on Twitter right now. But, I will tell you he has 350k followers on Twitter and is making millions from his content.

Generally, his content is excellent. I have even bookmarked a handful of his threads. So why did this Tweet push my buttons?

Let me start by saying I don’t disagree with his 2 points above. But, it is way too nuanced a view to narrow it down to only these 2 reasons for “consuming content”. I would bet $10k that even he doesn't follow this rule consistently.

It’s. All. For. Clicks!

Let’s think about the Tweet for a moment. If you followed this “strategy” you’d learn a lot and you may even be productive. But, you’d hit brain fatigue pretty quickly and imagine how boring your life would be.

I book 2 different 1-hour blocks every day to consume content from social media, newsletters and podcasts. These 2 blocks are specifically dedicated to learning, personal growth and content generation. So, with this as my goal then his Tweet make sense. But, we consume content throughout our day, constantly.

In my mind, content is anything and everything your brain digests. Blogs, tweets, threads, LinkedIn posts, podcasts, books, TV. I’ve probably missed a few but you get the point. So if we think about social media, should we focus on consuming that content with a specific goal in mind? Maybe that’s not the worst thing. Rather than doom scrolling, have a focused goal and search for the content to help achieve that goal. Sounds exhausting. And, you’d probably get most of the way there by simply curating your feeds. Then, any scrolling you’re doing will have content you can use in some way.

But, I want to get to the part of this tweet that grills me the most.

“Procrastination”

I am SO over this hustle culture crap. As if our only goal in life is to grind, grind, grind. Anything else you do that isn’t part of the grind, for 16 hours a day is procrastination. Jesus, what a life! And, these types of influencers preach about building content to help people and striving to do good with no concern for $$. I call bullshit! I’d bet another $10k that says if tweets like these weren’t making him money he wouldn’t put them out there. And, how about another $10k down that at least 90% of his effort focuses on revenue generation?

Spare me the holier-than-thou crap, please! Some honesty would be refreshing. I don’t give rocks if you’re making money from good content, well done. I’m even happy to pay for useful content. But, just embrace it.

The Joy of Consuming Content

The most glaringly obvious piece that’s missing from this post. Well to me at least. How about consuming content for the pure joy of it?

There are millions of beautifully written books waiting to be discovered. To be consumed on the couch while raindrops paint their doodles on the windows. Even biographies and non-fiction books can and should be read for the joy of reading. Sure, you can learn something from everything you read but it doesn't have to "unblock a bottleneck in your life".

Should we forget about the joy of watching a mindless movie? Or, binge-watching a new series on Netflix because we can? I think not. To ignore some of these simple pleasures and joys in life would be a shame. Enjoying the creativity that other humans can generate is a gift in itself.

I try and visit the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition each year. I spend hours looking in silence at the snapshot in time the photographer has managed to capture. Many moons ago I was an amateur wildlife photographer. Even in those days, I didn’t go to the exhibition with the hope of getting ideas for my work. I went for the pure love of wildlife and photography creating art.

This Tweet does not come from a bad place. He has built his audience and a million-dollar business by writing content like this. Selling frameworks and systems to “help you do the same”. But it seems a little far from reality. And, it annoys me because there will be people who will swallow that advice whole. There will be hundreds of 20-something-year-olds who will read the Tweet and feel shitty about themselves. They’ll put down their Playstation and cancel plans to see the new Marvel movie. They’ll think they’re “procrastinating” and should be grinding on social media to find their purpose and make millions before they’re 30.

What a shame!

If I could have a conversation with my 20-year-old self I would stress that it’s ok to slow down. It’s ok not knowing what, who or where you want to be in 10 years. It’s more than ok to have LOTS of experiences in life. And, most importantly, have some fun and find joy in simple things as much as you can.

We've lost the ability to do things because we want to or purely because we enjoy them. We now do everything because we have to. Or because it's getting us to some dream goal. Or because some successful influencer says we have to if we want to be like them.

Where is the passion in that? Sounds like a formula for misery rather than a formula for success.

This is a short rant for today but I had some strong Weekly Feels about this topic and wanted to share with you. Let me know your thoughts on the Tweet and what it says to you. Maybe I’m way off the mark?

I’ll leave you with this quote by Bertrand Russell.

Peace, love and muscles.

Jazza