Perception is powerful
Why do we blindly listen to influencers?
I realize most of us put our best selves forward online and especially on dating apps. Yet even knowing the majority of things we put out isn’t the reality of our lives, we still listen to others online. FTX had everyone and their brother advertising online and at one time had a valuation of thirty-two billion dollars. I had heard about it on a couple of the finance YouTuber channels I follow. With a massive advertising campaign using Tom Brady and Steph Curry, what could go wrong? Clearly A lot based on the recent bankruptcy filing. Why are we still investing in celebrity ads? I was lucky to not be involved in that, but I see where I could have fallen prey. When investing we need to do our due diligence. With minimal research I found Coffeezilla had done a video on FTX months ago predicting their outcome and had exerts from Sam describing it as a Ponzi scheme.
I’m in the middle of cutting weight to get back down to around two hundred pounds. My phone apps have picked up on that and started recommending diet programs and workout videos. Watching one recently the guy giving the advice was ripped but giving terrible advice. We listen to him because he’s ripped and supposedly knows what he’s talking about, but he is conveniently leaving out multiple steps he has taken to get the body he has, the gear he uses, and the work he puts in to maintain it. The Rock is a beast of a man at 6’5 and 265lbs whether he’s on gear or not is debatable, but he’s in the gym 2 and ½ hours 6 days a week, why the hell would your wildly average ass follow his diet and eat 8ooo calories on your cheat day? I also noticed in the last five or so years it’s gone from “abs are made in the kitchen” to “diet doesn’t matter, put in the work and results will come.” Terrible advice- but popular because it is easier than following a strict diet.
Stop blindly listening to people online and research a few options to try for yourself.
Why aren’t we presenting the best possible version of ourselves online? We can almost exclusively control our narrative. Invested $5 on Webull now your profile can say investor, bought a share on brickshare, now you are a real estate investor. Taken a class online? You are a student. Take the time and watch the video or read the book and you can learn how to invest, buy real estate, and be a gym rat. The bar is so low for entry on these things if you want to do it try and learn as you go. There’s a perception of a lot of rules and difficulty to get into multiple things that once you learn a little about it, it doesn’t exist.
“Could we change our attitude, we should not only see life differently, but life itself would come to be different. Life would undergo a change of appearance because we ourselves had undergone a change of attitude.”
― Katherine Mansfield
The Following books helped with this week’s post, feel free to click the links to order a copy for yourself and help me out.
