Dear friend,
Let’s do a thought exercise.
You are back in 1993. You’re a kid. You’re young and you don’t have a care in the world, especially about the future.
It is Christmas.
You want this new toy that every kid on the block is having. You’ve been nagging your parents for an entire year about it.
On Christmas day, you’re presented with a big box.
Inside it is a strange machine.
You ask what it is.
“It is a computer! It is very expensive and you can do amazing things with it”.
You look at this contraption and after they instal it for you; you stare at a black screen with a white prompt, the prompt of MS-DOS.
On your desk you also have two boxes.
One says “Coding for beginners – learn how to create your own software even if you’ve never coded before”. The other says “Sim City 2000 – the blockbuster video game in which you can run your own city”.
You can pick just one. Your folks will return the other one to the store.
This simple decision can change your life.
Why?
Because if you learn how to code, you will build the foundation of what is a very profitable career. In most places of the world, especially in Singapore, being a software engineer is a profitable activity.
Not only this but most start-ups are built around software. Most fortunes nowadays are made creating SaaS (software as a service), mobile applications, enterprise applications and more.
And even if you don’t go this route, programming helps build a disciplined and structured thinking and this is helpful in any field, from writing to the medical one.
If you pick the game, you’ll be entertained.
And there is nothing wrong with some fun here and then. But I don’t think there are many people who can say they’ve invested 10.000 hours into gaming and got something good out.
Sure, you have your professional gamers, earning millions of dollars. But for every person earning a million dollars, there are 100.000 competitive players that barely survive. And you have your YouTube and Twitch streamers who are earning a living this way. Here too the 20 / 80 rule applies and 20% of streamers in this field earn 80% of the money.
But where am I going with this?
I can use a computer, like most other things for good, for wasting time or even for evil. You can use a computer to build a multi-million dollar application or to waste 2500 hours in World of Warcraft, as I know some people do.
You can pick to see it as a tool of creation that gets you more of what you want in life or as a tool for escapism where you’re worse off for using it.
And this leads me to Facebook.
Facebook is a global phenomenon.
No.
Facebook is a global addiction. Just as right now we’re counting how many calories we eat, I bet we’ll measure how many minutes we spend on Facebook.
We won’t lose weight. We’ll cut down on Facebook and Instagram and when a friend will ask us to check his photos on Facebook, we’ll say “sorry, can’t do that today, I’m on a diet”.
Most people use Facebook as escapism.
This means not putting it to any good use.
Starting the application every single time they are bored to check what’s new. Scrolling down the feed without paying attention to anything in particular. Killing time.
And some people use Facebook as an echo chamber.
This is because the brilliance of Mark is that he built a platform in which millions of other people will confirm anything you believe.
Do you believe the Earth is flat? There are groups and fans and discussions on the topic. Do you believe Trump is an idiot? There are people who will love you for thinking this.
This is the definition of an echo chamber. You say something and it is said back to you, reinforcing the message. Facebook doesn’t teach you anything new. Facebook confirms and reinforces what you already know.
It’s the best place to feel right about everything, no matter how wrong you may be.
And I think these two categories compose of almost everyone on Facebook.
But there’s a third one.
And these are the people who use Facebook to earn money, to build communities, to advance their goals, to drive social change.
For these folks, Facebook is not a place to waste time but a place where using the right tools and the right approaches, you can spread your message with ease. Or you can earn a lot of money.
You have the online marketer using Facebook as a source of cheap leads… (and I must tell you, on a pure cost basis, nothing beats FB).
You have the professional or author building a Facebook group and his tribe. More and more people are listening to him and they feel part of something.
You have the thought leader promoting his ideas on Facebook and creating a positive change in the world. This brings him speaking gigs and media appearances.
You have the freelancer using Facebook to reach the people who he can help. He need not do lead generation. He can always get more customers using his profile.
And this list could go on and on.
Those who use Facebook as a tool have access to the same platform as everyone else. There are no new features. There is no secret club. The only difference is that they want to use Facebook as a tool while most people, use it to escape.
Look…
I’m not saying that using Facebook for personal purposes is a bad thing. I use it to keep in touch with friends and family too. However, most activities on Facebook serve no purpose.
They won’t make you richer.
They won’t make you healthier.
They won’t make you smarter.
They’re just a convenient way of killing time.
And my question to you is…
“Why would you want to kill time?”
I mean, this is the greatest gift that you have. It’s the only thing you can’t get back. You can always earn more money. You can always get more material resources. But time is limited to all of us and it is ending, it is depleting, one second at a time.
It is sad to see that the most popular application in the world is actually making us worse at life. That something used by an estimated 3.000.000.000 people is NOT making us smarter or richer or better. Instead, it is just making us more stubborn in our beliefs and gives us a convenient way of killing time without facing what really needs to be done.
And this is fine, for some people.
But it’s not fine for you dear reader.
This is because if you are reading this, then you want more out of life. You have goals to accomplish. You have battles to overcome. You have mountains to climb, metaphorical or maybe even literal.
And like it or not, Facebook, as most people use it right now is a major obstacle in your path. So make a decision.
You can keep using Facebook as a means to escape the real challenges of life and be like everyone else.
You can quit Facebook and free yourself from the pull of social media, giving yourself the space and altitude to take better decisions.
Or best, you can turn Facebook on its head and use it to advance your goals. Instead of it being something that takes away from what you want, it can be a tool that it can advance it.
Instead of keeping you away from earning more, it can be a means through which you earn more. Makes sense?
So look deep inside and ask yourself – am I using social media in a way that serves me or do I need to make a change right now?
Best regards,
Imran
