The Only Diet Guaranteed to Boost Your Happiness and Increase Your Focus
No, it’s not keto
This is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which I’m sure you’ve probably seen.
Think of it as a game: The farther you can move up the mountain, the happier and more fulfilled you’ll be. As basic needs are met, life becomes more fulfilling.
Anything that stops you from moving up the mountain can be labeled as “baggage” that must be left behind. Would you carry an over-packed bag to the top of a mountain? No! You’d strategize about what you were carrying with you, making sure you hadn’t overloaded yourself.
Enter, the news. The number-one way to overpack your mind on the way to the top of the mountain. I’m going to advocate for my favorite happiness-boosting diet here, something I refer to as the specialization information diet. Here’s why I advocate for this, and it’s something most of us know.
The news is mostly funded by advertising. I think we’re pretty aware of this by now, right? Private money fuels most of the news that we see.
Now, if you’re funding someone through advertising, the more people that see your ads, the more you make.
The proven way to keep people’s attention and ensure that they keep consuming 24-hour news (and buying things)is to make them experience fear and anxiety.
Fear and anxiety about your world stop you from feeling a sense of safety and security, meaning that your personal pyramid’s top three levels are sliced clean off! You can’t find self-actualization or even self-esteem.
You’re trapped in a prison of fear, thinking that your world is many deviations more dangerous than it is. You’re not even above the treeline, because you’re weighed down by the burden of fear and the completely mistaken idea that the world is f***ed.
The news will turn your happiness mountain into a happiness mesa if you’re not careful.
If you’re one of the many people that believe that the world is exclusively getting worse, you need to scale back your news consumption and specialize it.
“But it’s my duty to be informed!” You may be yelling at your screen.
You and I agree on that point. As citizens of a democracy, we need to be informed so we can make decisions about where to put our energy and time.
Here’s where we may differ. While it is certainly your duty to be informed, it is NOT your duty to:
Feel afraid or hopeless, then buy things to temporarily alleviate those fears.
Be entertained.
First, when encountering new information, you should always ask yourself: “If I choose to believe this, who stands to make money from the way I choose to use my hard-earned dollars? Do I need a beefed-up home security system? Do I feel unsafe because I’m actually unsafe? Or because I’m being told that I’m unsafe?
Entertainment is another issue. Most of us are aware of the echo-chamber problem that today’s social media algorithms end up creating. The people in my life with the strongest political opinions (on both sides of the spectrum) often tell me that it’s their duty to be informed.
Sadly, because of the way that we consume news, what they’re often saying is “I want my present views confirmed in a way that entertains me.” They’re not challenging themselves or stepping outside of their own comfort zones. They’re simply rage-sharing memes with people who already agree with them.
It’s your duty to be informed, not entertained. Being informed does not mean only reading news sources that reinforce your current worldview. It means getting a balanced perspective, especially where that means reading the opinions of people who disagree with you.
My favorite place to start is the Media Bias Chart from Adfontes Media. This is a fantastic service that rates the most common news sources on their trustworthiness. The next step is to be open-minded. Most people I’ve shown this to have quickly scanned to find their favorite news source, and gone “no way! Not ____!”
Yes, ____. Your favorite news source is not exempt from bias, or non-factual reporting based on catering to whatever subset of the population you happen to belong to. If you want to be informed, you need a balanced perspective. Read Hans Rosling’s book Factfulness. Check out Allsides. If you disagree with one side, think of it as knowing your enemy.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Your happiness is at stake here. Shut down the automatic news feed on your phone, and turn off notifications from news apps or get rid of them altogether. Research the news sources that are not heavily funded by private money, and then pretend that you live in a time before smartphones.
Read the news like you’re reading a newspaper in the morning, then let the day go by before you check in the next morning. Otherwise, your happiness will be eroded as the day goes on.
This is one of the most insidious parts of the happiness-stealing news machine. Dissatisfaction and fear are being piped into your head at all times. We forget in this 24-hour breaking news world that we don’t have to know about things as they are happening.
The way things are set up now, news outlets are trying to write fastest, not most accurately. Tons of misinformation occurs at the cutting edge. Give yourself a buffer of a few hours, and let stories be fully fleshed out before you allow yourself fear and rage.
You cannot feel safe as a normal news consumer. Once you’ve made a few simple changes, and sprinkled in some positive science and tech news, enjoy the fruits of moving past “safety” to “love and belonging” on Maslow’s pyramid.
Here’s my favorite information filtering personal question. To answer the question “how did x get so screwed up?” The first plan of action should always be “follow the money”. When you come across new information or new news sources, no matter how badly you want to believe it, ask yourself this:
If I choose to believe this piece of information, who makes money? If I choose to consume this particular news source, who makes money?
Once you know (and if you’re ok with who makes money) then you can consume that news.
Remember, it is your duty to be informed. It is not your duty to be sold a security system/blender/way of life in the process of becoming informed.
If you’ve been waiting for nutritional advice, sorry, that’s not my area! Thank you for reading to the end, and I’m sorry if my headline tricked you. If you still want some dietary advice, here. Go dip some celery in almond butter and honey, and eat it as you seek better news sources and clarity.
Much love!