The psychology behind content consumption & how to create an information diet to reach your goal
You become what you consume
Hi fellow writer,
I hope you are having a mindful Monday.
I’m writing today’s edition on a Sunday afternoon from a loud - but cozy - café…
…spectating how it gets a bit darker outside with every word I write.
After finishing this letter, even a -20 degree snowstorm wouldn’t be able to stop me from treating myself a lussebulle (saffron bun).
In other words, I’m living a classic 3rd advent in Sweden.
Today’s edition will be about behavioural psychology.
I’ll tell you the story of how I realised that content creators are taking over my thoughts, what I learned from that, and what my impl
Meeting Kieran Drew in a supermarket
2 days ago…
…I met Kieran Drew in a supermarket.
He wore a Cyberpunk-like trenchcoat, dark trousers, and black boots.
After approaching him with my “fan boy caution”, Kieran was nice enough to talk with me about content creation, how life’s going, and how to use the rule of one.
Then, I woke up.
…
It was one of those dreams that feel so real that it takes you about a minute to get back to reality.
And this was not the first time:
A month ago, I had a dream where I walked through a Tatooine-like market in a desert, with a LinkedIn post by Matt Barker on a billboard.
In another dream, I took up my mobile phone and read a LinkedIn post by Marvin Sanginés (who, to be fair, also is a great friend of mine, but still).
I feel intimidated.
And fascinated.
How could Kieran, whom I’ve never met, become so significant for me that he appeared in a dream of mine?
The mind-blowing extent to which online creators affect us
I don’t know, since we don’t understand yet how our dreams are made.
But here’s what I’ve noticed:
I trust creators with my investments
The last year, I’ve only bought information products recommended or created by creators I follow.
I trust creators with giving me valuable information
When I need information about how to do anything, I don’t google - I browse my favorite Twitter creators
I trust creators to feed me with ideas
I can trace back 95%+ of all content ideas I have written to content pieces by digital creators I follow
I trust creators with telling me what’s possible
A year ago, I couldn’t have dreamed of making a living off writing online. Now, I have an abundance mindset and look with optimism at my opportunities. Creators have shifted my mindset.
The keyword:
Trust.
In an age of information overflow blurring our reality, we need lighthouses we trust in leading us through the darkness.
We trust them because (we feel as if) they know something we don’t.
These information lighthouses possess incredible power over our:
Desires
Thoughts
Decisions
Behaviour
Examples I see with myself:
Dickie Bush made me desire to spend as many minutes as possible during workdays.
Kieran Drew’s rule of one has affected many of my own content ideas.
Sahil Bloom’s content has motivated me to reflect more.
Why regulating your content consumption changes your life more than you think
Creators are so important to use because we have reasons to trust them:
We’ve tried and succeeded using methods we got from them
They supply us with valuable information every day
They have social proof from their followers
And truth is:
We are on social media because we want new information.
We crave advice from trusted sources.
A sense of direction.
We want to trust because we want to be reassured in what we do.
Depending on whom we decide to trust, this has a positive or negative effect on your life.
A common example:
Some Instagram fitness influencers that make teenage girls desire an unhealthily slim body, while some help them build a good relationship with their body.
Tiny difference, enormous impact on these girls’ mental health.
The same is true for your content.
Because our information consumption defines our…
Desires
Thoughts
Decisions
Behaviour
You become what you consume.
This is why you need to be cautious with whom you trust to change your mind.
Why do you need an information diet?
An information diet regulates what information you allow yourself to take in.
Why you need one?
Your attention is limited.
Yet, every day, you are bombarded with limitless information.
Information which, as we earlier discovered, has the power to change your desires, thoughts, and behaviours.
And the more information you consume, the less clarity of thought you have:
(Worth to note: I disagree with Sahil on turning of the news, I wrote an article about it here that he actually ended up liking!)
Worse to come, most of the information is low-quality and curated by social media algorithms.
To say it with an analogy:
The world is throwing information fast food food at you.
There’s nothing wrong with some BigMac’s.
But I prefer whole foods:
High-quality information from select sources.
How to create an information diet to set yourself up for success
Just as with a normal diet, the ideal information diet varies from person to person.
So rather than telling you WHAT to do…
…I’d like to give you a few tools and suggestions, my fellow writer.
Here’s how do a digital information diet:
Pick 2-10 creators you want to be influenced by
Decide on what lifestyle you want to emulate, scan for a select few creators that have it, and follow them relentlessly.
Of course, I need to be one of them.
Avoid algorithm-feeds at any cost
The moment you let the algorithm decide, you loose your own power.
Exception:
If you want to grow your social media accounts by commenting under random people’s posts, please do.
But block time separately to go after your information diet.
Use Twitter lists (tutorial)
Twitter lists allow you to create feeds with only creators you select.
I have one list for every topic you are interested in with 2-5 top creators.
Sadly, I don’t know of any tools that curate other social media feeds just yet…
Notifications-only on LinkedIn
I’ve tried to apply an information diet to LinkedIn by only reading posts from my notifications, which has worked decently.
How to do it:
Hit the bell for your favorite creators
Add a Feed Blocker to your browser to don’t fall into the main feed
Follow newsletters
Newsletters are long-form and information-dense.
If your favorite creator has a newsletter, follow it.
Tip:
Create a new email account exclusively for reading newsletters, and you’ll have an inbox to read every morning.
Consider intermittent-information-fasting
Set aside time to mindfully consume information daily or weekly.
If you want to go HARD…
…Download Cold Turkey and block social media websites whenever you don’t need them.
Wrap-up
As you know now:
Creators affect us deeply.
They can even appear in our dreams.
To become the person you want, get fed information only by the people you aspire to be like.
I’d be curious to know:
Which are your 2-10 creators that you will follow from now on?
Appreciate you,
Nils
PS.
What did you think of today’s edition? How can I improve the next one?