Energizing Versus Nourishing Content
When self-help content is hurting you
Fast Food Versus A Warm Meal
We all know the difference between fast food and a healthy warm meal. One is energizing and soothes your needs NOW, the other builds you up and leaves you with less regret.
I’ve noticed a lot of self-help or self-care articles fall into one of these categories. Some self-help is energizing and it fills you with fire. You feel like you can take on the world and you start viewing yourself with a Superman sign on your chest. However, they don’t really solve your problems.
Nourishing Content
Other self-help articles, which usually don’t go by self-help articles, really help you in the long run. These are usually written by people who just love writing by sharing their honesty and vulnerability. When you learn something, it really sticks, because it resonates. Because it touches something that only someone who has lived the experience fully can touch. It might not energize you or solve your problems today, but the wisdom is already planted and understood in your subconscious. Along the way, you’ll notice that you’re using their nourishing stories in your life.
Maybe you don’t even notice you’re using it. The writer might not even necessarily want you to remember them. They really wrote it because they thought the world needed it.
How To Recognize Energizing Content
Energizing stories and content (also videos) are usually written to propel you towards the next action. Not towards a solution for your problem, but towards wanting more of that energizing content. Why would you want more of the content? Precisely because the solution is not given!
Energizing content can be recognized by:
- Uptempo information.
The writer/speaker is usually hyped up and wants you in that mind state too. We all want to be winners, so we become receptive to people that are uptempo. Sadly, not all of them are winners. Sometimes, they are just uptempo. - Guru aura.
The writer/speaker exudes so much (spiritual) confidence and looks as if they are not present on this plane with you. If they are beyond you, how can they relate to you? I’ve found that the wisest people are very relatable and have more of a friend aura than a teacher aura. I hope I don’t sound like I have a guru aura. - Listicles.
Sorry. But there are not 3 simple ways to get out of a depression today. Also, there is nothing wrong with accepting professional and medical help if you go through something you need help with. Asking for help when you need it is a superpower. - A perfect and precise description of your problems.
This is the most important one. Content creators usually are great at describing the pains you experience. When someone describes your pain so elaborately, you trust them to have the answers too. Conveniently, the ‘nourishing’ answer is not given in the ‘free’ content. Most of the time not even in the paid content. Again, this is because they want to keep you in a loop of consuming their content instead of really nourishing you and solving the problem.
How Not To Fall For Energizing Stories
In this economy content creation is a job. Some self-help or spiritual articles are even written by people who don’t care about self-help or spirituality. They just know how to keep making content and connect it to an audience. The sad thing is that self-help and spirituality by themselves are intrinsically about caring and nourishment. Some content creators have other intentions.
Whenever you consume some self-help or spiritual content, ask yourself this:
Is this just energizing me right now or is this really nourishing?
This is the most important question to ask. Notice how it feels and whether the content resonates because it feels true, or because it just precisely describes the challenge you are currently facing.
There is nothing wrong with creating content and linking it together to keep your audience engaged with you. It’s only wrong when you keep them going in circles because you don’t have the answer or when you are delaying to give the answer.
People looking for self-help usually are in a vulnerable state. Keeping them going in circles is hurting them.
How To Find Nourishment In This World?
I found that the most nourishing content is found in sincere art. Art could be in the written word, visual art, or any other performing art. The makers of art are usually people who see the world a certain way and can’t help but share their vision and reach out.
On Medium, for example, my favorite writers don’t have many views (yet), but their stories are incredible and it feels as if it’s written solely for me. Not because they pinpoint my pain points, but because their stories carry their essence. Even if they wouldn’t be paid, they would still write it, because they care.
My Role As A Creator
I don’t mind earning money from my stories. When I write, I try to give you something that I really hope will light up your days just a little more than before. I don’t promise life-changing tips. I don’t even believe I have those. I can only care and share what I was lucky enough to have received as inspiration.
I will not pinpoint your problems, so as to create rapport with you, and then place the valuable information in a paid course. I believe there are other ways you can earn money without splitting your content into free and paid. For example, you can create a nice physical book containing your free content and offer that as a product. That way, you can still have all your stories online for free, while offering a physical book (make it a piece of art) for those that want to touch and hold your stories.
This world has nourished me with its art, its stories, its foods, its legendary people, the love and care I have received, and the magic it is. I want to nourish the world back with my stories.
Call To Action
How do you view your role as a creator?
