I think more and more people nowadays are starting pay closer attention to our diets. Whether it’s to be healthier or to lose weight, there are many different diets available to everyone. Now that we are paying closer attention to what we eat, I am not sure the same can be said when it comes to food for our mind. In the information age, most people have instant access to all types of media content via their smartphones. Everywhere you go, it’s not hard to spot people putting their attention on their phones. Whether it’s on the train, at your local cafe, or in the streets, people love their phones.
We Are What We Consume
Of course, I am not trying to tell you to just unplug and stay away from your phones. After all, we can’t live without our phones, for they provide us a great deal of convenience. However, it might be a good idea to pay attention to what we consume in terms of information and media content. We’ve probably all heard of the saying ‘we are what we eat’, I think the same concept also applies to what we put into our brains.
How many hours a day are we spending on content that is bad for us? We all have limited hours in a day, so it’s really important that we put enough ‘nutritious’ stuff into our minds. I believe this will not only help us navigate the world better but also make us feel better. We all want to feel good, right? But here is another question, how do we know what’s nutritious and what’s bad for us?
How Can We Tell What’s Good For Us?
I think this is a bit harder to tell compared to food as information is intangible. For example, how do we know if a particular piece of news information is good for us or not? Sometimes even facts can harm us, not to mention fake news. I don’t want to get into what is good journalism too much, it’s just that it’s hard to tell what’s really good for us since information is everywhere and comes in all types of forms.
I am afraid to say it’s probably impossible to be perfectly on point when it comes to deciding what’s nutritious and what’s bad for us. Sometimes we all need to accept the realities of life and not bury our heads in the sand. Facts are facts, we can’t argue with them. But I think it’s still worthwhile to be selective in order to maintain our sanity. I think there is a simple way to distinguish the good from the bad. It’s simply asking yourself ‘how do I feel?’ after consuming something.
How Do I Feel?
How does it make us feel? Our feeling is often a good guide. How does reading this post make us feel? How does watching this YouTube video make us feel? How does knowing this fact make us feel? A good piece of content should make us feel happy, inspired and intellectually stimulated. It would be great too, if it helps us move towards our goals. But sometimes we may not feel anything, I think these types of content probably aren’t particularly ‘nutritious’ either so we shouldn’t over-consume such content as they simply take up a lot of our time.
If you don’t feel good after reading or watching something, it’s probably best to avoid such content in the future. There are many types of content that are addictive and don’t help us in anyway. They are usually sensational in nature. You might find yourself asking, ‘why did I waste time watching that?’ I don’t think these types are that hard to tell. But I know there are also things worth consuming, for example, a good documentary. These are necessary. But we should pay attention to our state of mind at that particular time as well. We can’t be consuming hard facts all the time, we would most likely go crazy.
Not One-Size-Fits-All
It’s worth noting that not all good content is for everyone. Some may find a certain type of content useful while others may find it boring. Different types of content mean different things to different people. At the end of the day, you should consume what’s good for you based on your own circumstances and state of mind.
It probably will take time to get good at selecting suitable content to consume. But I believe with practice, we will become better at it. The important thing is, as often as possible, to be aware of what we consume. If we truly care about our health and well-being, we should pay closer attention to what we put into our minds.