Brain-Flushing: a systematic passive approach to upgrading yourself (plus a bunch of resources)

For the last two years I’ve been running an experiment that has brought me more joy than anything before it. Here are the results.

Hypothesis: does the media you consume change who you are?

Short answer: the media you consume IS who you are

Some backstory

About 2 years ago I was in a really bad place in my life and as a result I unintentionally fell into the black hole known as HGTV. For those unfamiliar with this gully of modern television, HGTV is a channel dedicated solely to making you feel bad about how shitty your home is (not really, but that’s the end result.) I began watching the channel only for the mind-numbing drama-free programming it offered, a kind of empty space at the end of the work day. But then I started to notice something…

HGTV was fundamentally changing who I was.

I was becoming more self-conscious of my surroundings, my belongings, and how I spent my time. I started judging others based on what they had, where they lived, and what kind of car they drove. What was this witchcraft?!

Not good. So I decided to unplug. But a few weeks later this quirky little thought bubbled into my head…

“what if I could use this power for good instead of evil?”

And so the experiment started

If I could use shitty television to make myself a shittier person, could I use good television to make myself a better person? I started systematically replacing the shows I watched to see how it affected my personality.

Some findings:

CSNBC (Shark Tank, The Profit) made me: business savvy | looking for opportunity in everything | optimistic | money-obsessed

Travel Channel (Anthony Bourdain, Bizarre Foods) made me: more edgy | experimental | enjoy the little things | dissatisfied with LA

History Channel (American Pickers, Pawn Stars) made me: slow down | see a bigger picture |obsessed with possessions

So maybe it’s not the best list of shows, but it was damn better than the granite-countertop-fetishisms of HGTV. The results were mixed. Sometimes these changed me for the better sometimes for the worse. The problem was that a lot of these changes conflicted with one another. While American Pickers conditioned me to take things slowly, Shark Tank made me want to go conquer the world and become a millionaire.

But the hypothesis was being proven correct so…

Some refinement was in order

I decided to push this to the extreme and the rabbit hole that unfolded was beyond my wildest expectations.

I replaced ALL media consumption to the following:

Tim Ferriss (4-hour-workweek) — “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.”

Chase Jarvis (ChaseJarvis Live) — “Be different, not just better.”

Gary Vaynerchuk (AskGaryVee) — “There is no substitute for hustle.”

TheOffice (Show)— “I’m not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.”

HouseofCards (Show)— “That’s how you devour a whale, one bite at a time.”

Casey Neistat (Casey’s Vlog) — “The biggest risk is to take no risk at all.”

Derek Sivers (Sivers.org) — “All this learning means nothing until you make something happen.”

If you’re unfamiliar with any of these I highly recommend you look into them. Each of these provided something to better my personality and way of thinking. Watching Gary made me want to keep pushing even when everything was turning to shit. On the other hand, Steve Carrel and The Office made me realize how ridiculously insignificant my small problems were.

What was especially cool though was that it took zero effort on my part. All I did was watch, absorb, and apply. No note-taking, no to-do lists. Just this:

So, dear reader, you may be asking, “that’s great, but what the hell am I supposed to do with this?”

The answer is nothing, or something, it’s up to you. You can start by asking yourself, “what am I watching?” Make a list if you like. Are you watching Casey Neistat or are you watching cat videos? Are you watching the Kardashians or are you watching Game of Thrones? Fox News or BBC?

I’m sure you’ve met that person who watches the 7 O’clock news everyday and also happens to talk about murder all the time and is genuinely scared of everything in real life. Correlation? These things matter more than you or I could possibly imagine.

If you want to venture down the rabbit hole…

Here’s a good place to start

This is a more refined list that I’ve widdled down over the last few years. Try to make this part of your daily practice. (note: if you do watch the Kardashians, make this list part of your hourly practice.)

30 Days of Genius — a good series featuring 30 short-ish interviews to jump start your brain-flush. Good daily after-work viewing.

TED Talks — TED is a video series about ideas worth spreading and general fascinating stuff. Good for once a week viewing.

Tim Ferriss Show — One of the best podcasts I’ve found with a very diverse set of guests and topics. Good bi-weekly podcast, don’t go too fast through it.

Good Life Project — Interesting new podcast that isn’t so pushy about success, more low key and easy going. Good for relaxed listening.

As always I hope this was of some use to you. If you give even one of these resources a shot I think you’ll be happy you did. If you have any questions or love I’m always available on the twitters @bogdanyz