Building life-changing habits and the perils of influencer economy

Hello there,

This week, I am curating products that are innovating in mental health/well-being space.

Today's Cool Product - HabitStrong

Out of all the products I introduced till now, this one involves the least amount of Tech. HabitStrong is a collection of programs curated by Rajan Singh to help you build life-changing habits. I took a bootcamp of HabitStrong few months back as I was impressed by the quality of content created by Rajan.

HabitStrong bootcamps are intended to build good habits that can change your life for over long term. I was impressed by the program and the results - I woke up everyday at 5 AM and slept by 11 PM. By the time I usually wake up, I was done with meditation, gym, and 2 hours of deep work every day. That month was my most productive month this year.

Though I don't wake up at 5 every day now, I wake up between 6-7 and do a bunch of productive things before the start of work day. Earlier, I used to wake up just before my daily stand-up call. This program is worth a try if you want to develop a morning routine or deep work but are struggling to do so.

Today's Interesting Read - The Perils of Audience Capture

Continuing with the theme of impact of the scale of Technology on our society, today's article talks about the side effects of creator/influencer economy. Creators can't help thinking about what their audience want them to create. You might have been in a situation where you don't like to sing/dance but you had to do it to comply with your audience. Similarly a creator often goes beyond their boundaries to satisfy their audience and with the reach of internet, things might go out really fast.

This article talks about 3 extreme cases of influencers falling prey to their audience. One such example is of Nicholas Perry - the man who ate himself. Perry started making videos of him playing violin and talking about his vegan beliefs but eventually resorted to posting videos of himself eating food on Youtube to garner attention. To satisfy demands of his audience, he kept challenging himself on how much he could eat, and has grown over 6 million subscribers on Youtube. But the cost was that he blew up and became big in ways he hadn't anticipated.

This is the ultimate trapdoor in the hall of fame; to become a prisoner of one's own persona. The desire for recognition in an increasingly atomized world lures us to be who strangers wish us to be. And with personal development so arduous and lonely, there is ease and comfort in crowdsourcing your identity. But amid such temptations, it's worth remembering that when you become who your audience expects at the expense of who you are, the affection you receive is not intended for you but for the character you're playing, a character you'll eventually tire of. So the next time you find yourself in the limelight of other people’s gazes, remember that being someone often means being fake, and if you chase the approval of others, you may, in the end, lose the approval of yourself.

Gurwinder Bhogal

If you love watching a video than reading, you can access the animated video of the contents of this article here -

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