4 things we need to stop doing in 2022 (and one that we should)

Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

I know, I know. 2022 is a ways away but is it really or is time just going to whiz by and leave us in the dust again?

I mean, I still feel like we’ve just been on pause since 2019 and are patiently waiting to resume normal life but here we are, approaching 2022 on a metaphorical Shinkansen — silent but you’re there before you know it.

Anyhow, it appears that while the virus runs rampant in our lives, humans apparently felt the same compelling need to go absolute ham on everything too. So here are some things that have been grating my nerves (I’ll bet yours too) and I’m surprised no one has started a petition for us to stop doing shit like this.

1. Mixing foods that do not belong together

Aight, imma just show you some pictures that will silently prove my point. Laughs in lazy writing

Yes, that is boba and yes, that is crab.

I’m not sure where this (literal) unhealthy obsession with combining boba/dessert items with savoury foods stemmed from but we’re clearly due for an intervention.

No more. Please.

I want to eat boba through a fat straw while sipping on my Earl Grey Milk Tea, less ice 0% sugar, not dripping off mozzarella cheese.

Okay? Okay.

2. Saying “we need this to go viral”

Virus
noun

A piece of code that is capable of copying itself and typically has a detrimental effect, such as corrupting the system or destroying data.

origin
Late Middle English (denoting the venom of a snake): from Latin, literally ‘slimy liquid, poison’. The earlier medical sense, superseded by the current use as a result of improved scientific understanding, was ‘a substance produced in the body as the result of disease, especially one capable of infecting others’.

Funny story, I used to have a boss that never failed to ask how we can make every marketing campaign have “the viral effect” — her words, not mine. And every time she asked that, you could see the social media team struggle to keep the dry heaving internal.

I know, viral is and has been one of the hottest keywords associated with out-of-this-world social media marketing campaigns. But as you can see from the definition, it’s not always a good thing. And there’s a certain degree of uncontrollability associated with viruses. Case in point: all the outlandish marketing gimmicks that started out with the sole purpose of going viral (rather than having a proper objective) that got the brands lambasted by the unrelentingly harsh netizens. Here’s looking at you, Speech Academy Asia.

What you’re actually looking for are high engagement rates and positive sentiments, not for people to share your content like a virus regardless of how they feel about it.

Maybe the pandemic gods has just had enough of “viral marketing campaigns” that they decided to show us what a virus actually means.

Besides, haven’t you heard? We already have our hands full with another virus.

3. Taking everything personally

Truth: There are important social issues that deserve our attention and representation, especially if they’ve been denied a voice for a long time.

Also truth: Not everything is about it and not everyone is against you.

To be honest, whether they’re for, against or ambivalent towards a topic, most people on either camp don’t come from a place of menace. More often than not, they just want to shed some light from their perspective.

Not everything is a deliberately calculated move meant to oppressed a minority group. Different views can exist in the same sphere without feelings of negativity and animosity. Also, if everyone shared the same view, there’d be no room for growth and maturity.

Have you ever met that school mate that finished their work earlier and instead of helping their team members along, they start talking about how slow they are and how they need to hurry the f up. Don’t be that person.

4. Overthinking everything

Following my previous point, don’t read too much into anything. Most things that happen are rarely as deep as you make it out to be.

Real talk — this one is kind of a personal reminder to myself too.

Overthinking does nothing for your situation.

Zero, zilch, zip, nada.

It makes you worry unnecessarily and second-guess anyone and everyone, including yourself. I’ll be the first to admit that all these time spent cooped up at home and in Singapore feels very much like a pressure cooker with no release which leads to a growing frustration which then manifests into a quiet dissatisfaction with anything and everything and then our brains just fixate on the tiniest details and before you know it, you’re lying awake at 3am in the morning deciphering the way someone said something and wondering if they secretly meant something else.

Too specific? Okay but you get my point.

Alright, enough with what we shouldn’t be doing, let’s move on to what we should instead. It’s a small thing but way easier said than done simply because of how small it is and that’s to;

Grab the little wins.

Because the little wins are the ones that seem insignificant, so small that you might even take them for granted and expect that they should be happening. But nothing is ever guaranteed so just grab them when you can.

If you find one person that likes your weird ass food combination, grab them and make a party out of it.

If your marketing campaign “goes viral”, go ahead and pop open that bottle of wine.

If you manage to convince someone to consider your point of view even for a second, just bask in the moment.

And if you catch yourself overthinking and stop before you go into a downward spiral, I’d say good on you, hold on to that.

In what seems like a never-ending pandemic, it’s the little things that make all the difference.