My inbox is overflowing, and so I have been culling some of my email subscriptions.
Out: Everything hyperbolic, hair-on-fire, over the top.
In: Anything insightful, contemplative, self-reflective.
I want to be counter-algorithmic.
I want to read experience and expertise from those folks with good records of identifying overlooked aspects of reality. This is rare, valuable, and useful.
I do not want to reward the sites that are attention-seeking and unsubstantive; anything that is geared to push emotional buttons, generate anger or is filled with calls to action — these are gone.
Deleted, unsubscribed, mark as spam, muted, blocked.
All of the Media competing for your attention — that includes print, TV, social media, newsletters, blogs, etc. — its Adios, muchachos! to any of these that reward the most attention-grabbing click-bait claims, the more outrageous, the better.
In light of the market sell off, lots of content is urgently demanding you buy puts, sell equities, hide in this (asset class), hedge with that (asset class) just do something — anything! to save your portfolios.
So follow their advice, and do what you need to do: just unsubscribe.
Content producers can build an audience — slowly but surely — by doing deep work, finding useful things, creating value. Alternatively, they can be the loudest, most outrageous voice in the room. That kind of junk media is counter-productive to both your investing success and your mental well-being. If these or any other posts make you angry or upset, then don’t read them. Unsubscribe from anything making you anxious or is causing you distress.1
This is not just a matter of money, but rather of time and attention, and to be blunt, maintaining a healthy mental outlook.
Garbage in, garbage out: Fill your head with junk and it all but guarantees future behavioral mistakes. Reducing your consumption of the worst kinds of media will go a long way towards better results of all kinds.
Information hygiene is as important as valuation when it comes to subsequent results.
Previously:
Sentiment LOL (May 17, 2022)
Information Hygiene (October 4, 2021)
Watching From Afar (March 2, 2020)
Reduce the noise levels in your investment process (November 9, 2013)
More Signal, Less Noise (October 25, 2013)
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1. I refer to tone and caliber of work – this is not a suggestion that you create a filter bubble based on content or substance.
