Since writing my last post, I purchased a book, read a few pages, and continued about my days. Usually, my consumption of content consists of listening to the news, podcasts, YouTube videos, stories, maybe some other social media and music.
I recently chatted with family and friends about incorporating more positive information into their daily lives. Something that was said, that stood out to me, was the amount of positive information needed to outweigh the negatives. Say, you made a mistake and someone called it to your attention. Whether the person said, “that’s alright, you’ll get it next time!” or, “are you kidding me? you suck!” makes a difference. Obviously, it would feel better to hear that you’ll learn from the mistake. If you heard, “you suck!” it would mean, you have to hear four positives, just to bring you back to feeling even or okay.
Anyways, I write out my day as I intake information from my surroundings. I may be strange in comparing myself to a computer system, but as an analogy, it works. So, my intake of information has somewhat of an effect on my output. For example, when I’m actively pursuing a degree, I attend classes, learn new information, talk about it, write about it, and produce meaningful work from the learnings.
Now, if my day consists of a lot of negative info, I might only output a bad attitude. Which happens, I’m not all sunshine and butterflies. But, if I have control over my surroundings, my input can change. Yes, my injury has made it challenging to read hearty books. However, finding podcasts, YouTube videos, and stories from friends that fill my days with meaningful information has been just as rewarding.
So, if you were to write down what information you’re taking in everyday, could you see how your output is effected?