99% of internet users are solely consuming content.
I’m not great at math, but I do know that means only 1% of people are creating content.
It also means, that 99% of internet users are being driven versus driving, absorbing versus disseminating, and likely believing without postulating.
Now is the time to reduce consumption and increase creation.
Constant consumption of content (oh hi there, spontaneous alliteration) puts us in the role of “virtual victim” where we passively absorb others thoughts and opinions without thoughtfully collecting information, processing and synthesizing it and creating our own opinion.
Suppress the idea the “creativity” is the same as “creating.” You don’t need to be an artist, a writer or a photographer.
Creation can come in many forms.
Create a new way of thinking.
Create a new thought, one that broadens perspectives, challenges assumptions, or provides a beautiful moment of respite from our stress, anxiety, fear, doubt, overwhelm or hopelessness.
Create a moment.
We don’t necessarily need more opinions, especially those that rehash the same ideas in different words. Create a moment to listen to a different opinion, or ask someone with a life experience completely unique from our own what they value most, what scares them the most, or identify what they have in common with us.
If this particular example is successful, we’ve not only created a moment, but also a connection that wasn’t there before.
Create space…
…to breathe, to move your body, to pause and take in a view of the clouds, the sunset, the trees swaying in the wind…
Create space to draw, to grow plants, to have a fish tank, to set up a reading or tea nook in your home.
Create a meal that nourishes you, rather than one that ordering fast food (consumption) that numbs you or leaves you feeling tired and uncomfortable.
Create one small thing and notice how other ideas pop up, enabling you to create another, and another…
This process is well known by artists and entrepreneurs. Writers talk about just getting a “shitty first draft” on paper so the ideas start flowing to kick off the process that eventually brings out the really good drafts.
Creators of products or businesses often start with something that fails, but that failure, and its associated lessons, opens up the channels of the imagination to continue to iterate, advance and eventually find something that works.
But all of this takes ACTION. And we can’t act if we are sitting back only consuming what others have already created.
Taking action brings the message back to our brains that we have options and are capable of changing direction.
We grow new neurons when when we step out of our comfort zone, change direction, and create something.
Sitting around only reading others opinions or looking at their vacation pictures isn’t going to move you in the direction you want to go, but rather in the direction others want you to go.
Reduce the number of people, or “influencers” you’re following, and start LEADING.
The world needs you to create, even if it’s just for you to continue to grow and be an active participant in your life’s journey versus a passenger.
And you never know who might benefit from what you create, even if it’s just ONE consumer who needed to see that it’s possible for THEM to create something too.
Then the wheel keeps turning and we increase innovation, expand possibilities in every realm, and activate our individual super powers to create change that is needed across all domains.
And yes, I realize the inherent irony in this advice as I create this blog seemingly for others’ consumption. But I’ll tell you a secret…
I created this blog for me 😉
The word and intention I set for myself in 2024 was/is “CREATE.”
I challenge my fellow warriors to make it yours in 2025.
Don’t worry about who might or might not consume what you create. Take one small step away from consuming and towards creating and you will be shocked by the world of possibilities that opens up for you.