Find mindsets that will help you become the person you want to be.
An Unknown Circle of Hell
Until recently I had a really bad view on internet marketing. It created ads which as a whole I saw as a never ending exercise of suggesting, poking, pushing you to buy, take action or other things that may or may not help your life.
Best case it's annoying, worst case it’s a manipulative, stressful, exercise designed to separate me from my money.
So when I started a business I found myself in the middle of this circle of hell.
I learned many tactics and strategies marketers use to get attention. Eventually I got to the point where I constantly thought. “This is the exact thing I wanted to shield my kid from.”
I needed it to start my business, but every skill I learned left a real bad taste in my mouth.
That was, until I heard this quote from Brian Solis
"Social Media is about sociology and psychology more than technology"
- Brian Solis
Then it clicked, I'm stuck in the biggest mall in human history!
But once I figured that out, I was good, really good actually.
Malls are Weird
Since I was young, I thought of malls as this big magical place where each store is a different world designed to sell you something. I know what I'm getting into when I go to a mall, and I can appreciate different brands, styles, vibes stores create to attract and serve customers.
I people watch at malls, but I also store watch. Again, each store is a new world, so exploring that world is kinda fun if you know what's up.
- What color are the walls?
- What am I smelling?
- What style is this furniture?
As a software engineer I was so immerse in the technology, I didn't realize what the internet has evolved to in the last few decades.
Looking at it like this, two things happened.
- I didn't feel as bad building this part of my business.
- It helped focus my definition of Cyber Wellness.
It's About Mindset.
A LOT of content on the internet is centered around challenging yours and others worldviews.
Simply put, if you change your mind, you can change your world.
The issue with this, is we are "soooo changeable."
(Points if you know where that quote is from)
This is both a blessing and a curse. No one is right all of the time, so we learn new things and develop new thoughts and ultimately beliefs and values.
But when you are in the middle of a place designed to constantly change your mind, you either change your mind all the time and become flaky. Or you harden your mind and become fixed.
At this point, being close minded and stubborn this makes sense. Because we are surrounded by so many things that wants our attention, so much entertainment, so much stuff that we shut down and turtle.
Being constantly flaky or ridged makes it hard to grow.
This is where Cyber Wellness comes in. I want to know when it's okay to be open and when it's okay to be guarded.
Walking through a mall, I know when I'm going into a store and when I'm in the corridors. If I can't tell the difference, then I don't know when to have my guard, when I'm being sold something or not. (This indirectly explains why I hate kiosks.) Different people have different tolerances for things like that.
Knowing your limits helps you, define you.
With this definition, it's not about avoiding tv, social media, video games, or anything like that. It's about going through it.
One Person at a Time
So this newsletter, is really about helping people figure this out for themselves. One talk, conversation, post, newsletter at a time.
Some will be open to the message, most won't.
Some will be customers, most won't
At the end of the day, it's not about profits, it's about people.
- Sharing our lives with each other,
- Finding value in each other's lives,
- And hopefully finding love, support, and community in the process.
