How To Find Peace In Your Life By Applying Selective Ignorance
I first discovered the concept of selective ignorance through Tim Ferriss’s “The 4-Hour Work Week.”
What’s selective ignorance you ask?
Selective ignorance (noun): the practice of selectively ignoring distracting, irrelevant, or otherwise unnecessary information received.
It means intentionally deciding there’re just some things you don’t want on your mind.
Things that you don’t want or need to worry about.
“Why?” you ask.
So we can dedicate more time and energy to the things and people that matter to us.
Here are some of the things I’m selectively ignorant about in my life right now:
- Who died this week on “Games of Thrones” (I don’t watch any television series)
- How many f**king Pokemon you’ve caught this week
- Who’s throwing the next epic party on campus (it used to be me)
- Why Jack won’t speak to Bill because Jane hooked up with John
- The Rio Olympics
- What Kim Kardashian had for lunch
- What Taylor Swift thinks about life
…. Alright, it might be easier to make a list of things I do care about.
Here’s how all the energy and time I’ve saved through selective ignorance is being spent:
- Being the best son I can be for my parents
- Being the best boyfriend I can be for my girlfriend
- Being the best friend I can be for my closest 4 friends
- Being the best nutritionist I can be for all my clients
- Staying healthy and looking like I know what I’m talking about
That’s it, much shorter list.
Sure, being selectively ignorant about most things have made me look silly in some conversations.
Sure, it has caused me to fall out of touch with a lot of people I used to be “close” to.
Sure, some people think I’m an anti-social bum with no life (my mum included).
But guess what.
I don’t care.
Your e-pal, who’s working on being the best nutritionist he can be right now by learning how not to write like a scientist,
Hans
