Change your inputs, change your life

Action follows thought and emotion.

Thought and emotion follows our beliefs.

And our beliefs are shaped by what we experience.

What we experience is derived from information that comes through our senses: what information about the world do we receive, and have we received in all the years we've been alive, through our senses, primarily our eyes (seeing, reading) and ears (listening)?

The information from the external world that we receive through our senses is the input. The action that we take to influence the external world is the output.

I want to emphasize the importance of previous input, and how some kinds of input received many years before can leave deep marks and influence how we behave now. On the negative side, just look at trauma–the horrible things we may have seen, heard, or otherwise experienced. Trauma shapes some beliefs we have about the world. These beliefs result in emotions, thoughts, and thus actions. And if the world is no longer like it was when those beliefs first formed, the resulting behavior is likely counterproductive to our current well-being. Bringing awareness to past traumas and their unconscious link to current behavior can help lessen their influence. That is essentially the purpose of therapy.

So, to better understand someone, and better predict what they will do in the future, look at their inputs. What kind of books are they reading? What are they watching or listening to? What kind of information are they consuming now? And don't forget past inputs that may have left a mark: what kind of experiences have they had in the past that had an outsized effect on their current beliefs?

It follows that if you change your inputs–what your inputs are now and how you perceive past inputs with an outsized effect–you change your behavior.

What does this imply about actions you can take now to change your life?

First, change your current inputs. Delete those social media apps. Level-up the quality of the content you consume. Surround yourself with inspiring people–you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Don't forget to spend time with people outside your social circle, past and present, which we can do via books, podcasts, etc.

Second: shine a light on and process past, traumatic experiences that may lead to counterproductive behaviors.

Side note

I wonder if this is why blindness as a motif in literature often symbolizes omniscience. One of the primary channels for external input, vision, is cut off. The individual has no option but to dive deeper into their internal experience, and often gains profound insights by doing so.

Examples:

• Tiresias is a blind prophet in Greek mythology (Homer, Oedipus Rex). Despite his blindness, Tiresias possesses the gift of prophecy, symbolizing that true vision and understanding transcend physical sight.
• Gloucester in King Lear by Shakespeare is physically blinded–one of his eyes gouged out and stepped on–as a punishment for his loyalty to King Lear, which leads him to gain true moral and ethical insight about the true nature of his sons and his own wrongdoing.
• Helen Keller writings (e.g. Story of My Life) demonstrate that blindness does not preclude profound understanding and insight (she was both blind and deaf). Her story is a testament to the power of internal vision and resilience.
• In meditation, beginning instruction often recommends the mediator close their eyes while they meditate. Closing the eyes encourages focus on internal instead of external experience, which can lead to greater well-being and even insight.
• Plato and Descartes have explored the idea that true knowledge comes from within, rather than from sensory experience.