What content did we consume lately and did it make us smarter?

Hi friends, welcome!

When the year started, I looked at my content consumption and realized:

I remember so little of what I listen, watch and read.

I asked myself, is looking at newsletters, documentaries or podcasts a waste of time?

Ultimately, it’s up to us to decide what we expect from the content we select.
However, seeing the current content abundance, it’s fair to ask ourselves:

How does this content serve me?

This is why over the last months I decided to write notes on what I consume, to connect the dots between what I listen, watch and read.
Inspired by Steve Jobs’ speech at Standford University.

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How hard it can be to write what you know - from Robin Waldun

Robin explained that “write what you know” has been replaced by “write about what you think you know”, a practice taking its roots in what the author described as our love for the narrative of the experience rather than the experience itself.

A trend described with the examples given by Robin “A short wander through Instagram feeds, there are entrepreneurs without businesses, life coaches with no lives and rebels without causes”.

But this is not a curse of the modern world, in fact, in the 18th century Immanuel Kant already described the problem of stories:

“All our stories and thoughts are only possibilities, but they're nothing without experience to ground them down. They’re misleading.”

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Advice can’t come from the sidelines - from Sahil Bloom

At the end of every year, Sahil conducts his annual review. From the lessons he learned in 2022, he explains why he doesn’t take advice from people on the sideline.

Sahil states “If you find yourselves in the arena, never take advice from the people on the sidelines who don’t understand what it’s like to be out there”

The arena metaphor applies to situations we put ourselves in, we are “in the arena” when we take action, such as writing an article, creating a company or filming for a movie.

As our focus is on our actions and the maximization of their success, we seek for guidance & advice. Usually, we look for individuals & organizations with experience in “the arena” but as mentioned in Robin’s article, the lines are now blurry between the experience itself and its narrative.

Stories work to guide us in the arena but they are nothing without experience to ground them down.

And there, is where the dots connect!

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