You become what you listen to. Congrats, you're a sad playlist.
Everything you consume wires itself into your head. You’re basically a mood-salad made from your Spotify playlist, Netflix queue, and whoever yelled at you last. If the salad tastes like shit, maybe rethink the ingredients.
When going to the gym or doing something sporty it makes sense to put on an active track to get going. Or when relaxing in a bath we want soothing background music. Not all of us, but many of us use music to get into a certain vibe, a certain state of being.
It might be that we want more energy, or it might be that we want to lower our energy. So I guess music is a little bit like drugs? Whatever it is, it changes the temperature of the dish...
But to change our character, we need to be consistent. As our character is defined by how we act. We can be active, lazy, energetic, caring, engaging, dismissive, angry. Our character is defined by the patterns of our vibes.
We know that our vibe changes by what we listen to. But somehow we still don't use this information to change ourselves. We have so much untapped potential. We can completely change our character by introducing enough of a certain vibe.
Are we anxious a lot? Well... What are the things that make us NOT-anxious? Don't get me wrong, we need to engage with our problems to overcome them. But that does not mean we don't have impact over who we can be.
One is coloring inside the lines, and another is the ability to choose the colors. And music is just one of the parameters of our coloring. Guess it's a colourful world :')
Kill me now - A quote by DR Chaos
The People We Consume
Ever had a friend that you had to lose because you realised they are a bad influence? But somehow we still think that only that friend had REAL influence. Or we can be dismissive about it... "Oh of course friends have impact"... But when do they have enough impact? What do they need to bring to the table?
I'm not here saying you should drop your friend if they are having a bad time and are under the weather. But I am saying that you should at least define what would make you walk away...
Face your struggles now by choice, not later by regret
- A better DR Chaos quote
Did your brain just make excuses over why you shouldn't? It's only natural... There are places that we don't want to look. Impacts we don't want to admit. We convince ourselves we have more control than we have. Please deny it in your head to proof my point.
Friends, family, work colleagues, music, TV, voices, text, social media... All inputs together drastically make up a part of who you are. You are a lot more of what you consume than we want to admit.
Whenever we feel struggle or disagreement, ask yourself "WHY?". Is your ego knocking? We'll notice that we FIRST think our ideas, and then REASON afterwords. Yes... We as a species are beyond reasoning...
When you feel being pushed back by your ego it's time to dig in and think about it. But yes, the equivalent of doing such is <eating a shit that tastes like lobster>.
<- No quote?
The Unexpected Impact
Now to the good part... Here is something that I never expected to have as much impact as it did. And I'm not saying it will for you. You'll have to go look for yourself...
There are no fairytale solutions. There are individuals with individual things that work and don't work. YadaYada...
SO! I optimised listening to happier songs and started to feel happier. Sounds ridiculous right? Yeah I think so too. But it worked...
I Wonder what will work for you? Will you even test? Do you care? It's okay if you don't. I'm not your mommy...
Action Plan from - DR Momma
- Write down what are your largest consuming parts:
- People that influence you (online, social media, YouTube, a fantastic blogger, ...)
- People around you (friends, family, colleagues)
- Now write down what value do they bring? Why do you want them close?
- And then write the opposite... When would you no longer need their value?
And yes, even family might have an answer... For example: I don't need my mother anymore when I have seen her live a fulfilled and good life where she feels successful as a mother, a person who could give her all to her family, a husband who she help grew and who his (step)-kids will help because she made him a good man. Someone who can see her grandchild, and know that even they will be okay, even without her. Even if I would miss her dearly.
Life is not forever. It's better to think about the hard questions now, than to regret them by the time they have passed. As passing will happen, the question is what do we need for a good passing?
What are we consuming, and who are we consuming it with? Is purpose given, or is it created?
What's the soundtrack of your character? And more importantly, is it the one you actually want?
See you next week... or whenever DR. CHAOS decides to smack the idea printer again.
