Black Man, I love and appreciate you! You already know! I want to start with a saying that I first heard while in college...
“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.”
You may have seen it on one of those inspirational posters, but I digress. The message is real no matter how you look at it. Why? Because as we continue our focus on our "diets" during this #TransformationMay this week we are going to look at how the things we are watching and listening to are likely having the largest impact on and may be even impeding some of us from reaching the heights that we hope to one day attain. So as always Black Man let’s get to it!
Alright, y’all remember those questions that you were asked when you created your Instagram, Hulu, Twitter, and other streaming & social media accounts? They cleverly presented it to us in some “tell us about you” type of wording or what are your “interests.” Well the information that you gave them enabled them to create a unique algorithm for you based on your "likes" and "interest." I know you are probably saying, uh what’s the big deal about a streaming service or social media platform giving me things the things that I like to watch or listen to?
Nothing, other than the fact that you have essentially been hacked. If you have ever found yourself down what feels like the rabbit hole of information or watching countless movies or youtube videos based on something that has been “suggested for you” or “because you watched” then my urging to you is the opening line of the quote I shared earlier, watch your thoughts.
Let me be very clear, there may not be anything wrong with what you may be watching, however, my consistent push every week for us as Black Men is elevation and the achieving of the goals and dreams that we have for ourselves. This is where in lies the problem that I am pointing out, all too often these "rabbit holes" or binge-watching often come in exchange for our most precious commodity, our time.
Time can be used one of three ways, it can be spent, wasted, or invested. It is up to you to determine how you use your time. I know I would personally categorize watching a full season (or two) of a TV Show in one weekend as a waste of time. And yes I am guilty of having done this before myself. Again, the point is never to place blame or even shame you for doing it. However Black Man, to know better is to do better, and with time being of the essence, it is hypercritical that we are intentional with how we chose to invest our time. If we plan to reap the benefits that come as a result of burning the midnight oil, then we can't place that time in a rabbit hole created and designed to lead us to advertisers and away from the things that we truly desire.
Create Your Own Algorithm - Black Man don’t forget that you are in control. This information age we are living in is truly a gift and a curse. The gift is that you have the power to control what you watch, listen to, and essentially what enters your mind from the audio and visual portals.
Black Man, here is a little secret, making this change is going to be easier than you think. Transfer that same energy that you have when you are about to work out, to the other parts of your life. What do I mean? When it is time to workout we find a playlist of music that gets us feeling upbeat and ready to go. Do the same for the other tasks in life that you have to get done, if you want to bring more money into your life, listen to or create a prosperity playlist and put it on repeat! You want to learn more about something that you are interested in, listen to a podcast or audio book about it during your morning or afternoon commute. If you are feeling unmotivated, listen to motivational speakers, if you are feeling like you need to get closer to the Lord then create a gospel playlist and play it constantly. I can go on and on, but I don't want you to forget that what you have is the power to choose what you are being fed.
The same goes for the things you are watching on your streaming services, changing what you search for will change what the service suggests and before you say that is still a waste of time, I never said that there wasn’t any value in the things that you watch, I simply urged you to both question who is truly behind what it is you are watching and how much time you are spending in the process.
Alright Black Man, I am going to be brief this week, so I am going to wrap up with this point here, feed your mind your thoughts. Let that sink in... Feed your brain the things that you want and you desire. Write them down and read them daily. Record yourself saying the things that you want and desire. Play them back to yourself throughout the day. Create a vision board and spend some time looking at it everyday and seeing yourself in and with the things that you desire.
Black Man you are the magnetic force that will attract (or repel) the things that you will ultimately have in this world. Say to the world all the things that you want, see yourself with all the things that you want and eventually you will have all the things you desire if you put in the work necessary to obtain it! Simply put, by upgrading the things that we allow into our brain, we will essentially elevate the things that will be produced from our mind!
Black Man as always, I love you and have a great rest of your week!
Artwork by Jason O'Brien (Solid State: Unbreakable)
Comments