Is Social Media Trying To Hypnotize You?
We all know how it goes.
One minute you’re sitting there working…and flash forward 5 hours later… And there you sit, hunched over the keyboard or craning your neck like a turtle over the phone, the cool glowing screen painting your face like Halloween (yeah, the sun set at some point) and on and on.
The day just scrolls on by, while you like this and that, make a comment here and argument there, oooh! Look at these pictures! What a great article–Oh I didn’t realize the new episode started tonight!
Before you know it, the day has passed, and you don’t remember anymore what was going on with whatever you forgot to keep working on.
It happens to everyone. It’s a completely natural response to that kind of stimulus. Some have argued that social media sites are actually designed to hypnotize you. I don’t know if that’s true, but take a look at any office, coffee shop, or public transportation and you’ll see what I mean by hypnosis.
Eyes glazed over. Tuned out to the rest of the world. Flitting from one thing to the next. Never getting anything done that you really want to do.
And yeah, it’s fun. There’s nothing wrong with spending some time online and enjoying yourself.
But when social media steals your awareness away from other things that bring you deeper satisfaction, you’ve got a choice: will you remain hypnotized with that scrolling news feed in the driver’s seat?
I’ll explain exactly how to get yourself out of social media hypnosis, but first, we’ve got to understand exactly how hypnosis works.
It’s a completely natural process that we all go through multiple times a day.
It all starts with anxiety. We get bombarded with so many bits of information all day long. Our unconscious filtering process gets overwhelmed at some point, and anxiety is the result.
After the anxiety builds up enough, it triggers the primitive fight or flight state in your lower brain.
Once that’s occurred, most of us aren’t going to fight, and when it’s just you and your phone, there’s nothing to fight. (Wait, maybe that explains where youtube comments come from…)
So we’re left with flight.
Where do we flee?
Our conscious awareness flees into a hyper-suggestible state of hypnosis.
So why is that such a big deal? Because your critical mind is numb to what’s going on, and then all that news, all those ads, and all the other random stuff goes straight into your unconscious mind and starts influencing your life script.
That might not sound too bad, but think about how insidious it could be. You’ll actually feel like you made the choice to like something you see at the store, when in fact, that emotion was conditioned into while you sat there scrolling past the ads and playing online.
Again, this isn’t meant as an attack on social media. I use it and enjoy it most of the time. Instead, it’s a way to put yourself back in charge of your own time and your own mind.
To do that:
1. First, notice that it’s going on. You’ll feel that pang of conscience letting you know it’s time to get back to work on your real goals.
2. Close the app or the browser window. Log out.
3. Close your eyes. Take a deep, refreshing breath.
4. Count yourself OUT of hypnosis by saying out loud: 1-2-3-4-5 and WIDE AWAKE!
5. Take some action toward what you were meaning originally to work on.
This may seem simple, and it is. Simplicity is the sign of effectiveness. Can you see how this might benefit you throughout your day?
Now, what if every time you broke out of the FB scrolling trance you also took a few minutes to stretch your face, shrug your shoulders, and drink a glass of water? How might that change your life in both subtle and profound ways?
We get into this in a lot more detail during the Hypnosis and Undoing workshop (currently unavailable).
By the end of it, the folks who applied themselves learned how to identify exactly when you’re dropping into those unconscious hypnotic states,and more importantly, how to snap back out of them.
Not only that, but like all Art of NGF trainings, you learn how to convert your tensions to raw motivation, and then immediately direct that force toward accomplishing whatever you want most in your life.
Damn, I’m excited about Hypnosis and Undoing workshop. I’m extremely happy to keep hearing from and working with all of the people who took the workshop, and used it to expand their lives exponentially.
In fact, I’m so excited, that I’m redoing the entire workshop from the ground up, with all new material, new frameworks, new training, and new sessions. This time, I’m playing for keeps, and the recorded version–which will be called IMAGINATION TRAINING–will be one component of the new Art of NGF Training Series.
Where does it lead from there?
Anger Management…Imposter Syndrome…creating your life from the ground up, navigating the endless adventure, and a lot more.
Most of the advanced and elite training will take place in person, as it should be.
Most of the beginner to intermediate material will be pre-recorded, and occasionally conducted as live group experiences.
NGF Daily will continue forward (we’re on day 229 now) without fail. You can still get in on the ground floor, start at Day 1, get all the bonuses, and even join with the live group as soon as tomorrow morning… use this link here: https://radicalundoing.com/ngf-daily/
(I’ll be rearranging that page soon, with experiences and videos from the guys who’ve been doing the training all this time–and then the rate will raise as well.
Once the 366 days are complete, it’ll be made available as an actual treasure chest with a hard drive, print book, and loads of bonuses and unique items.)
Get into the NGF Daily Training now, while it’s still live.
I can’t wait to work with you.
And stay tuned for the grand opening of “Imagination Training: How to Stop Feeling Like a Fraud and Transcend All Your Problems and Start Celebrating Like a Happy Little Kid” with the Art of Not Giving a Fugk.
You won’t want to miss it.
Enjoy,
-Garrett
