If you took the internet’s word for it and never left the house, you’d swear we’re living in the apocalypse.
You’re hard-pressed to find anything positive. This is understandable. In our current times, a lot of bad things are happening. But one thing had been confusing me.
Why haven’t many people been talking about, you know, solutions?
I see a lot of people pointing out the problems, bringing up things from the past, and highlighting every instance of negativity in the present, but rarely do I hear a set of solutions coming from a place of hope.
If I do see a solution, the solution always seems to involve the destruction of something — a system, a statue, another human being. The overall discourse lately, from the outside looking in, doesn’t seem to carry the sentiment that anyone wants anything actually solved.
There’s not even the slightest hint of this type of thinking, “Yes, things are bad right now, but we can make them better.” Nope, just a bunch of negative circular logic that goes nowhere.
This confuses me because I’ve always been an optimist. Even when my life sucked, I always thought it was going to get better someday, I just didn’t know when or how. I’ve always had a tendency to see opportunities.
I already knew the answer to why I was confused, but it’s become clear to me lately.
Some, many, people are just allergic to good news. They genuinely don’t want anything to get better. They want their outside circumstances to suck to justify their own inaction.
I wrote an article about the fact that now is currently the best time to succeed because the world is filled with such negativity. The competition is too busy being frazzled. You can focus on winning. To win, you have to maintain an abnormal sense of positivity and optimism in today’s times.
Don’t Fight in the Mud With a Pig, Because You Get Dirty, & the Pig Likes It
I’m done trying to do anything to help the nitpickers and pessimists in our society.
If you’re like me, you’ll encounter people who try to engage with your positivity by finding any tiny little thing to prove that you’re wrong and that the sky is falling. You can’t help these people. They’re done for. Demoralized.
Large pockets of Western Civilization are done for, demoralized. They have a mind virus and no amount of reason, logic, facts, or inspirational messages are going to help them.
For those of us who still see opportunities in the world, we’re just going to have to work with each other while the rest of the people in society eat each other.
If it really hits the fan, we may have to go build our own society on an island somewhere. I’m only half-joking — I have my passport and I’m ready to go whenever.
I’ve made the following rules for myself:
- If someone leaves a nitpicky or ad hominem comment on my social media, I just block them
- If someone on my timeline posts nothing but outrage porn news, I unfriend them
- When I hear negative and limiting opinions in real conversation, I just smile, nod, and agree
This may sound like I’m not being true to myself, standing up for my opinion, fighting for what’s right, yadda, yadda, yadda.
I’m telling you, nothing good will come from engaging with these people in the slightest. Nothing. It’s a net negative. You won’t convince them and you’ll drain yourself in the process. Trust me, I’ve tried. And I’m tired.
I’m back to the original program. Come with me. We’re going back to business as usual whether the nitpickers like it or not.
Here’s what to do next.
Change The Ratio In Your Mind
Trying to avoid negativity in 2020 is like trying to avoid oxygen. You can’t fully escape it unless you never leave the house and engage with zero forms of media altogether.
But you can counteract the negativity in the world by bathing yourself in as much positivity as you can. You don’t realize the extent you’re being programmed — from the shows you watch, the things you see on social media, even the music you listen to.
Instead of just being programmed, also focus on programming yourself:
- I meditate daily just to get in a positive state prior to doing work
- I’ll take long walks either in silence to enjoy nature or with an audiobook that provides inspiration
- I’m even careful about what music I listen to
- I tend to watch documentaries and educational shows as opposed to regular T.V. series
- All of my close friends are people who are ‘up to something.’ They have a project going on, hobbies, into fitness, etc.
I realize I’m heavily susceptible to influence so I try to add positive influences into my life.
You’re doing a good job right now by reading something like this. I don’t have all the answers and I don’t think life is perfect by a long shot, but here’s what I do know. I know you have some sort of talent.
When you think about the person you could become, you get fired up about it, don’t you? Sure, maybe you’re not acting on it yet, but that vision is compelling. You just have to make it compelling enough to act on it.
That’s where inspirational content comes in. Honestly, it doesn’t change you, per se, but it gets you in the right state to do it yourself. It’s called self-help for a reason.
Do what I did when I first began working on a new career and a new life. I’ve read all the books, watched all the videos, listened to the audios, all of it. Repetitively, too.
I bought this personal development course when I was working a $10/hr store job at a video store. I’d listen to the lessons in the course dozens of times in a row — I knew some of the lessons by heart, word for word.
Brainwash yourself. That’s the key. Think about it. You’re already more of a consumer than a producer. To get to the point where you become a producer, start consuming the right stuff.
Eventually, you’ll take the next step, the final step you need to take before you can be a true optimist.
Create a Fortress For Your Mind, Body, and Soul
When you find something to make, a path to go on, a major goal to reach, you create a safe haven for your mind. I always feel better after a solid writing session.
On the days where I spend most of my time building — writing, shooting videos, exercising, spending time with motivated friends — and little to no time consuming or participating in outrage, I experience massive levels of momentum.
I’m not perfect, I’ve fallen victim to the courage culture myself and even found myself joining the culture war for a bit. It’s not worth it. It’s not worth it because few are fighting for real goals. On top of it, you lose momentum in your mission, which matters more than anything else.
Yeah, I said it. Your mission matters most. Why? Because until you have a handle on you, you’re not useful to anyone else anyway. When your head is all messed up and you can’t think straight, what good are you to the people around you? Who can you help when you’re not even happy?
So find that mission.
You know the process:
- Take educated guesses at what your talents and strengths might be
- Run an experiment and try the new skill for 90 days
- If you like it, keep going. In a few years time, you’ll have a brand new life
Not only will you have a brand new life, but you’ll always have a place to revert back to when life gets a little off balance. Today? I didn’t social media. Just woke up, meditated, and started writing. I allowed no BS to enter my mind and went straight to doing what I love.
Guess what? I’m in a great mood.
I want everyone to be happy. I want society to move forward and for us to find a semblance of peace and cohesion with one another. If I thought I could personally fix the world and have us all singing kumbaya with one another, I’d do it.
I just don’t see it.
Do you?
Be honest. No one is around, just you and your thoughts. Do you have anything to gain from playing the outrage game? Do you really think this negativity Olympics is going to solve any of the problems in the world? Really? Really?
Come on. Friend, use your brain.
You can either play that game or play your game. In your game, you do have variables you can control. You have the internet — a tool that can literally lift you from poverty to riches. You have access to amazing information and education ranging from totally free to paid programs that can teach you how to do anything.
Lastly, you have the choice to decide what to focus on day in and day out. And that choice, in part, determines the type of results you’ll get in your life. Maybe it is delusional to always be positive no matter what’s going on around you.
But delusion is a prerequisite for an above-average life.