Ditch the Hustle to Find Authenticity in a 24/7 Digital World (When Doing Less Achieves More)
Box Cutter Co. Free Issue No. 62
So much Bullshit online. So much Bullshit on, and in, social media. What to do, what to do?
Digital saturation and overwhelm are darn real things. If there was ever a time when 24/7 was so deeply present — it’s now.
And with that comes an absolute flood of bullshit online about what people “should” be doing and “need” to be doing in these environments.
5 billion people with access to the Internet.
4 billion+ people on social media.
Added to 👆 are recent fuss about potential platform bans or forced sales (e.g. TikTok in the U.S.), increasing hustle and productivity porn, completely unrealistic Start-up culture mentalities, ding-dongs posing in front of Lambos and Ferraris, Instagram and YouTube celebrities, and so on and so on and so on…
What if we slowed for a moment, paused, took a breath, and considered…
What would it be like to be a wisdom culture rather than information-obsessed culture?
What happens when we move from looking at time as a quantity, and instead consider it in its quality?
What if, in the rush to ‘keep up’, we're — in fact — missing out?
Missing out on some depth, some connection, some of the real, authentic human experiences that come with the ‘Being’ part — not just the doing, the chasing, the constant measuring.
Authentic Authenticity?
Yes, Authenticity, was word of the year for 2023 (according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary folks). I find it a fascinating word.
In its etymology (roots) are the words “auto” meaning self and “hentes” meaning "doer, being". Going way back thousands of years to Proto-Indo-European is the root word *sene- "to accomplish, achieve."
I’ve found myself questioning more deeply lately — the ‘social media-obsessed’ world, the Creator Economy, and keeping one’s authenticity in these processes, systems, and structures. And, of keeping and supporting one’s Soul.
Like many things… the power is in the paradox. Even the root word hentes has a paradox between “doer” and “being”.
I find, the power is in the spaces between. Some might call it the liminal space, or, the interstitial spaces.
Liminal means occupying both sides of a threshold or boundary. It also refers to transitions. Etymologically (history of the words), liminal and limit are closely related — from Latin limen "threshold, cross-piece, sill."
Interstitial is made up of two words inter- (“between”) and stare (“to stand"). Thus to stand between (literally).
Yes, social media and the broader Internet are an incredible force. Life, globe, and history-changing. The opportunities that have arisen and will continue to arise within this concept of “The Creator Economy” ($250 billion annually and growing 30% per year) — are mind-numbing to consider.
However…
…It can feel like (I find at times) a never-ending cycle of consumption and creation, where every walking second not spent 'producing' feels like a potentially wasted opportunity.
FOMO-itis.
(Maybe the DSM manuals for mental disorders will label these further in the coming years?)
Paradoxically
I love information.
I will bury myself for days in gathering more information. Surround myself with books and dig down every darn rabbit, worm, and foxhole imaginable — online and off.
And now with tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity and… and…
… all of a sudden I can find myself so far out in the weeds, that I forget where, how, and why I started in the first place.
Information can be paradoxically dangerous and empowering. Clarifying and murky-making. Instigating obsession and freedom (or at least autonomy).
The Creator Economy (and connected sectors like online education (e.g., EduCreators) is an incredible opportunity, resource, and arena. The world of ‘online education’ — outside of formal education institutions — is wildfire-like.
And, in many cases, it’s deeply empowering for many.
For me, I’ve written about how the last 18 months of learning online far surpass in value, the $60,000 I spent (and 5 years) earning a doctorate degree in Online Education (specifically).
Yet… the online world and Creator Economy is also full of bullshit, garbage, misleading junk, and meaningless metrics.
It is also pretty darn sophisticated (at times) — especially when it moves from sharing then to persuasion and then crosses the thin line into manipulation. Many successful online creators tout the importance of learning the psychology, sociology, and anthropology of sales and sales tactics.
This isn’t necessarily new, as this mentality and approach has been taught in vehicle and life insurance sales, copywriting agencies, marketing programs, and more — for many years. Even the banking industry (in Canada) is in hot water lately due to shady, unethical sales tactics.
Much of it can be wrapped into a broad package of preying on FOMO (fear of missing out).
“GET THIS DEAL BEFORE IT’S GONE!…. Forrrrevvver!”
I see it almost every day in my various email inboxes. It’s actually quite entertaining to look at my overall inbox and see many of the absurd headlines — often from the same companies.
Funnily enough, I then see similar headlines between companies like Grammarly and popular creators. All preying on FOMO-itis.
“Get it before it’s gone”
Maybe it’s enough years and experience in navigating vehicle sales and car lots — buying and selling vehicles. All the tactics and methods used. Hidden fees and costs. Or, maybe a result of being part of a liminal generation — one that remembers clearly a time pre-Internet, early Internet, and now raging Internet.
Moving Beyond Skills, Information, and Metrics
The vast majority of us are heavily steeped in the ideas of skills and information. The far-reaching educational complex is built on ‘teaching’ skills and information.
On metrics and answers and solutions.
Thus… it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that on social media and ‘creator circles’ there is a similar infatuation and obsession. And, just like anyone else, I can get wrapped up and enmeshed in it just as much as the next person.
Yet, these past few weeks, I started into some deeper questioning. The sorts of questions that focus on:
Why?
And, Why does that (or this) matter?
A self-applied Box Cutter philosophy one might say…
Some of it is related to what I’m seeing happen here on Substack. For example, I’ve seen meteoric growth in ‘Subscribers’ over the past 6-8 weeks. New features are being released regularly. And new charts and graphs and other doo-hickeys — such as being able to see ‘Subscribers’ and ‘Followers’.
Yes, data is a helpful thing. However, there is a challenging truth to data too… it’s 100% based on the past.
Therefore, data-informed decision-making is a method of trying to navigate the future (which, theoretically, never arrives) by looking in a mirror — to see what’s behind us.
The other challenging aspect of ‘data’ is that it becomes “the Thing”.
The Data Thing…
What I mean by this, is all the chatter seems to become about ‘the data’. The metrics. The “followers”, “the subscribers”, “the unsubscribes”, “the likes”, “the re-posts” — and so on.
These too, are paradoxical.
It’s like having a light when you drop your keys on the ground at night.
The light can assist you find the keys, but it is not the keys themselves. The light will not start your vehicle or unlock the door.
Similarly, the data will not drive your business or income. It’s simply a tool to assist.
No different with ‘social media’… it’s not ‘the thing’ - it’s just a tool. A potentially powerful, or dangerous, one.
If you don’t have the light to find your keys, what do you rely on?
Feel
Searching around by feel to achieve the same result.
“Likes” do not equate to income earned, nor do ‘followers’ or even ‘subscribers’. And… even if you have 10, 50, or 100 paying subscribers, you still have to produce content that they want to continue to pay for — as well as attract new subscribers who are interested in paying you for what you post.
Metric Enmeshment
Some days, I’m there too. I’ve been deeply enmeshed in the metrics. And, in the early days, it can be the fuel that keeps you going. The move from 10 readers to 50, to 100, and so on.
This is the sheer immense power and potential of the Internet. Think back to a time when the only option to get your writing in front of 50 people, was to write (by hand) and mail 50 documents.
Or, become one of the rare few writers, filmmakers, or artists who could secure distribution channels that got many eyes and brains on their work.
But now… I’ve chosen to make a shift.
Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking, writing privately (in my Learning Journals), and posting some material contemplating different approaches to content creation and building online.
Part of this started with the shift from “The Solopreneur Series” to “The Soul-preneur Series” — to being a Soul Proprietor — which also came with more contemplating and thinking about ‘soul’ in this work (and play).
Thomas Moore wrote years ago👇:
“Creativity is … being in the world soulfully, for the only things we truly make, whether in arts, in culture, or the home, is soul.”
Moore also wrote about the power of vocation (as the work). I find vocation a much more powerful word than work. At the root of vocation — going back thousands of years — are the same roots as voice.
This means vocation is more like a calling. It’s a deeper spiritual enterprise than work. (The word work comes from the ancient roots *werg- "to do.")
Added to this, all you need to do is change one letter to move vocation to vacation. ; )
In my thinking and reflecting, I realized that at times I was losing sight of the value that comes from simply existing and creating in a moment; in the moment.
Sometimes I was getting a little lost from allowing myself the space to absorb, to reflect, and to grow—not in followers or likes, but in wisdom and understanding…
… largely of my own Self.
I found myself writing more (largely privately) questioning the relentless pursuit of more—more content, more followers, more noise—and instead asking my Self (more frequently):
"What truly adds value to my life and the lives of those around me?"
In December and part of January, for example, I had some success on Medium. I published stories almost daily. I had some months of good earnings (for Medium) — over $500 one month and over $700 another.
“Growth” was excellent — in terms of ‘followers’ and ‘email subscribers’. Similarly, here on Substack.
Then I realized, there was far more ‘doing’ going on than ‘being’. The ‘hentes’ part of Authentic was out of balance.
I was often spending 8-12 hours ‘creating’ and thinking about creating. This while keeping consulting gigs going and the part-time online faculty work I’ve done for years.
(I also did the math on the hours spent writing and publishing and what that equated to directly… ouch. But, I also recognize the long-term benefits of writing and publishing at that pace. It’s always a balancing act).
Step off the Ever-more Train
For people building businesses online, there's a constant push to have and seek more—more followers, more sales, more content.
Yet this chase for more can actually make things harder, more challenging, and (maybe most importantly) less satisfying and soul-filling.
When you have too many choices about what to do or what to buy, it can get overwhelming, making it tough to decide on anything at all. This is known as the paradox of choice.
For digital entrepreneurs, this push for more also creates feelings of needing to be everything, everywhere all at once—on every social media platform, responding to every comment, and always creating new stuff. It's exhausting and will lead to burnout.
The falsely induced stress of trying to maintain a digital presence everywhere, all the time, can make it hard to focus on the things that truly matter — in business and personal lives.
It’s possible to break the cycle of always wanting more by adopting the idea of 'enoughness.' This means finding satisfaction in what you already have and where you are right now, rather than always looking for the next upgrade or achievement.
For digital entrepreneurs, enoughness can help reduce the fake stressors by focusing on quality over quantity. And, yes, I recognize this becomes a platitude quite easily.
One way I’ve shifted my thinking on this front is thinking about quality of time, over quantity of time. Meaning… focussed time on focused projects and writing — and then withdrawing from ‘the work’ to simply be.
I’ve also backed right off of giving many shits to ‘follower’ and ‘subscriber’ and ‘like’ metrics. What I’ve come to recognize is the joy and satisfaction of getting one message from one reader that essentially says “thank-you, this had an impact on me”.
And, I get a few of those every month.
I will also run into folks occasionally, who will say something to the effect of “hey, I see the stuff you’re posting online, I really enjoy it!”.
And, I chuckle to myself, because I had no idea they were reading it. No ‘likes’ or ‘thumbs-up’ or ‘subscribes’. Just quiet lurking reading and appreciation.
If you are building online, you will see it. The platitudes and bullshit about “keeping algorithms fed”. Keep your content in front of eyes. Publish, publish, publish. Relentlessly.
It’s akin to the same mentality that dictates the flood of yard signs and billboards at election times. Largely a waste of resources and flow of junk to landfills — once the election is over.
Enough can be more (Even the most).
Have you got a sense of your Enough?
What tools and tips do you use to track your Enough?
That’s it for this week’s Box Cutter Co. Free Issue. The next Free issue of The Soul-preneur Series is out shortly.
Enjoy the read, please drop a ♥️.
Maybe even re-stack this post, or share it on social media channels.
Topics you’d like me to explore or highlight? Strategies or lessons learned that you would like me to share? Drop a note in the comments.
As a pre-digital guy, it's a lot easier to stop chasing the "likes" like a dog chasing hubcaps. We didn't have that pressure, so it's not really part of my purpose. As a digital writer, I understand the dynamics, but I can't stray from my true self too far.
Good stuff.
Thank you so much for writing this. You've saved me from a relentless scrabbling for the all elusive "like".