Hey peeps!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday. Besides wishing you all a Merry Christmas I wish I could send everyone a holiday gift. Some in our community have shared tasty family holiday receipes and some have made suggestions to donate to wonderful causes. I of course share my Christmas action-movie binge which is not a gift but an intense distraction while prepping for joyous holiday activities. Hans Grubber falls so many times in the kitchen every Christmas I cannot even begin to count. Yet there's something I'd like give you this holiday season and that's Time.
As you set goals for 2025 I suggest you take on the goal of eliminating sensationalism from your news diet. Whether your New Year's resolutions are small, large, or great, this goal is relatively tiny.
Identifying sensationalism in the news cycles will help grow Time. Time you can use for more important activities like saying "Hi!" more often to friends and family, or banking more Time to accomplish larger goals. It is a rare thing that can truly compensate you for your Time.
I will not assume that you cannot identify sensationalism. I'm sure all of you can point to recent examples of sensationlism in the media. Though I do have questiions for you: How do you deal with sensationlism? Do you simply ignore it? Are you a headline reader who immediately identifies sensationalism? What do you consider sensationalism? How do you categorize it? How do you see past sensationalism read between the lines without actually engaging? How do you eliminate subconscious motivations to engage?
I know. That's a half-dozen questions that will suck your Time to answer. In truth, I don't want you to answer those questions. I don't want you to answer because there's another half-dozen questions I could ask. Yet, think of what you can do with a bit more Time.
In order to bank your Time in 2025, I wish you to consider what media stories are actually worth your Time. You're above-average so I ask you to identify them. Identify and eliminate. Yes. My gift of Time is a piece of advice. You can accept this tiny gift and you can even re-gift it, but alas you cannot return it. Time is something no one can give back.
PS. If you choose to reply, I'd be interested in seeing what current media stories you consider sensationalism and a waste of Time. Thanks and all the best, M.
BACKMATTER
Chris MacLeod, MSW. "Ways To Uncover The Unconscious Motivations That Are Holding You Back". *SUCCEEDSOCIALLY.COM* https://www.succeedsocially.com/findunconsciousmotivations
Doll, Katie. "What Drives Human Behavior? The 5 Motivational Factors". *SHORTFORM*. January 30, 2024. https://www.shortform.com/blog/what-drives-human-behavior/
Robinson, Lawrence and Melinda Smith, M.A. "Social Media and Mental Health: Are You Addicted to Social Media?" *HELPGUIDE.ORG INTERNATIONAL*. October 29, 2024. https://www.helpguide.org/mental-health/wellbeing/social-media-and-mental-health
Traci Sitzmann, Bradford S. Bell. "The dynamic effects of subconscious goal pursuit on resource allocation, task performance, and goal abandonment". *ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AND HUMAN DECISION PROCESSES*, Volume 138, 2017, Pages 1-14, ISSN 0749-5978. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2016.11.001. ibid. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749597816307105
