I'm an addict.

The future is exciting, new information is exciting.

That rush of dopamine when I watch a new video or start a new book.

It's thrilling and makes me feel like I'm making progress in my writing journey.

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In order to grow and make progress you need to consume new information right?

Yes, but no.

Yes you need new information so you can calibrate your compass and head in the right direction.

But not, if you consume too much you'll send your compass into a frenzy and it won't know which way is north.

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I'm addicted to new information.

Be it: Books, YT videos, content from creators, opinions from mentors, discussions in online communities.

I'm constantly looking for new information that will solve my problems.

Little do I realise, this creates a new problem. A pattern of going in circles.

I consume so much information that I forgot what I've consumed, I forget opinions, I forget learnings and I usually end up back at where I started.

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How I spun myself in circles

This year on my writing Journey I started with a course (The 2 Hour Writer from @Dan Koe ). A course to help you not only develop a writing system, but to build a following on social media around your writing.

I started writing and building, I hit a snag and then got some mentoring from a creator on 𝕏 (new info). My direction and brand changed a little, due to their opinions.

On the side I consumed more writing courses (new info) but then felt lost again. So I found a different mentor to help me solve me problem (new info). Not only that, I bought another course (new info), because I wasn't getting my problems solved. I consumed it l and got lost again.

My brand kept changing due to the new information and opinions. I started getting into branding and writing about social media growth, because it was an easy way to get views and customers.

10 months later, I realised my writing and brand is not gorwing how I want. I'm not happy with the direction I'm headed.

Now I'm back at the start with another brand change, this time with the brand I began with…

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This was an expensive lesson. 10 months is a long time.

Do I regret it? No, because I managed to genuinely help people and make some money.

But it made me realise quickly that it's not the direction I want to head in.

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How did I get to this conclusion?

I started getting deeper into journaling, I had frustrations and negative emotions plaguing me, so I opened my journal and started writing daily.

What I realised is that it made me feel better.

Alot of the frustrations were starting to disappear and whats better is that I started to uncover some deep insights into my own behaviours and thought patterns.

I started looking backwards, not forwards.

I realised that I'm not actually processing the information I consume. I'm not creating any plans or actioning any of the information. I just love to hoard info and make myself mentally obese.

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The benfits?

My focus and memory had start to improve. I was less anxious during the day and felt a sense of peace. Confidence in myself and brand also started to increase. I was feeling great.

Now I journal for 30mins a day every morning and I develeoped a set of questions that help spark ideas, insight and self discovery.

You need to try it!

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The Power of Looking Backwards

Try this little challenge:

For 7 days, set your self 15mins in the morning to answer one or multiple questions each day

Bonus points for pen and paper (theres some awesome science that happens in your mind with pen and paper, a letter for another day).

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• How are you feeling today?
• What's on my mind right now?
• What area of my life do I feel stuck?
• What are some things that I enjoy doing?
• What challenges have I faced recently? What did I learn?
• Think about a time you struggled getting started on something, what was the pain point?
• What's an interesting experience you've had lately? What did you learn from it?

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If you feel resistance on these questions ask yourself why and write about that.

Trust yourself, trust your intuition. Aim for consistency, even if it’s just five minutes daily.

As you start to look backwards, your mind will uncover hidden gems.

Give it a go and let me know if it also helped you?

As always, thanks friends.