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THE QUALITY OF THE INPUT DETERMINES THE QUALITY OF THE OUTPUT

Writer's picture: James RuleJames Rule


Think of the inputs we absorb into our minds as the fuel to our mindset and mental wellbeing. We must aspire to find the best quality fuel.


A Formula One racing car will not run on tractor diesel, a marathon runner will not optimise their performance with a pre race meal of pizza and ice cream. Equally we cannot optimise our mindset and subsequent professional and personal performance if we do not curate the daily inputs into our mind with care.


Our days are full of a multitude of interactions and activities. Some of which we are obligated to engage in. However, the vast majority we engage in out of habit without giving real thought to how it serves us. This article presents three areas of input I wish you to consider.



NEWS CONSUMPTION


Bad news sells, that is a fact of life. Print and digital media recognise this and create headlines and news stories accordingly. We are given more of what we purchase / click on, sensationalised stories, written so that they illicit feelings of fear, frustration and anger.


How many times do you return to news consumption each day?


Many of us start and end our days watching the news on television, listen to it while driving our car, then read about it on our digital devices multiple times a day.


Invariably it is the same news but it has been repackaged or tweaked slightly. Or perhaps another expert is offering their opinion. Even though you have already heard the core story you listen again and as a result allow the initial feelings of fear, anxiety or anger to resurface.


This repeated exposure does not offer you anything other than holding you in a negative state that is perfect for compromising creativity, energy and mindset.


What happens when something good happens in your life? You immediately want to share the news. You call your partner, a friend or family member. When was the last time you experienced that same desire watching the news? I imagine never ! You do not think wow I really need to call my best friend or partner and share this.


Challenge - Experiment with limiting your daily news consumption. Perhaps you can discipline yourself to once per day. Perhaps it will be implementing a news black out on alternate days? The purpose of this challenge is to be able to observe how this reduction impacts your mindset, mood, energy and creativity.


I was so struck by the positive impact of reducing my consumption that I now rarely consume the news. Initially I felt guilty, a sense of negligence and ignorance. However, I quickly came to the conclusion that so many of the stories of death, destruction and economic doom and gloom were beyond my control. By consuming that content I did absolutely nothing to improve the situation. The only outcome was I felt sad, anxious and frustrated.


What I can control is how I lead my business, how present I am as a husband, dad, brother and friend. I can control how much energy I bring to coaching my clients. Protecting my mindset by limiting news consumption allowed me to deliver far more effectively on all of the above.



FRIENDSHIPS


We can find ourselves maintaining friendships that no longer serve us. A true friend wants the best for you will celebrate your wins and commiserate your losses genuinely. They energise you and are essential for enhancing our wellbeing.


If you have friends who do not facilitate this simple role and who in reality are not genuine, who drain rather than enhance your wellbeing then you need to be ruthless. Life is too short, you need to conduct a cull and cut those individuals out of life or at the very least distance yourself from them. Your friendship circle should be built on quality as opposed to quantity. You have complete control over who you choose to send time with, talk and engage with. Why waste that precious time with people that drain you and who do not display by their words and actions they have your best interests at heart?


Challenge - When you have interacted with a friend socially face to face or over the phone reflect on how you feel. Are you energised and grateful for the time spent together ? Or are you drained and frustrated by the interaction? These gut feelings must be heeded in determining who you will spend your precious time interacting with in the future.



SOCIAL MEDIA


It is stated that the average adult now scrolls the height of the Statue of Liberty with their finger everyday! Studies on the average daily time spent on platforms differ in their conclusion. However, they are united in the conclusion that we are spending hours per day lost in social media, often in mindlessly scrolling with no key objective other than observing and comparing.


As stated by Theodore Roosevelt “comparison is the thief of joy.” People present the very best aspects of their life on social media and then others fall into trap of thinking that represents their day to day existence and compare their own life against this distorted perspective. This senseless task is a waste of our precious time at best and at worst is a toxic drain on our mental health, energy and well being.


Challenge - Monitor how much time you spend scrolling each day. Also when you step off the platform be conscious of how you feel. Do you feel energised, motivated and empowered? Or do you feel drained, frustrated and disempowered having spent time comparing your life to other people. If it is the latter you need to reflect on whether this habit is serving you.


WHAT BRINGS YOU JOY?


This is a question I ask all of my clients and I love the diversity of answers I get:


Baking

Walks in nature

Playing with my children

Dates with my partner

Playing an instrument

Reading with a nice coffee

Golfing with friends


These are just a few recent examples. When I then ask how much time is spent engaging in these tasks, the majority reply that they wish they had more time as they do not engage in their passions as much as they would like.


I encourage them and you to create that time by reducing news consumption and mindless social media scrolling. In most cases clients find several hours per week!


Applying that time to the tasks, activities or people that bring you joy and you have the power to transform the quality of your energy, mindset and your life.

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