Performative BS

Performative BS vs real progress​

Read time: 5 mins

Hi Reader,

This one's about performative crap online. The ice baths. The 4 AM grinds. The fake wins.

It matters because we all scroll. We all compare. And that can mess with your head, even when you’re doing fine.

Most people fall for the show. They copy it. They feel bad when it doesn’t work. Then they burn out or give up.

Let’s not do that.

From the experts

"We’re good at putting filters on things. We’re good at showing people that life is amazing, even though I’m depressed." - Simon Sinek

"Comparison is the thief of happiness. I can’t tell you how many times I’m feeling so good about myself and my life and my family, and then in a split second it’s gone because I start comparing myself to other people." - Brené Brown, research professor and bestselling author, in The Gifts of Imperfection​

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do and liking how you do it.” — Maya Angelou, poet and civil rights activist

Performative BS vs real progress

Have you ever found yourself watching someone's elaborate morning routine on Instagram (complete with ice baths at 3:55 AM) and wondered, "WTF is wrong with people" "Am I doing it wrong?"

It’s time to simplify and focus on what matters.

Ashton posts this outrageous Instagram video (click image below): His day starts at 3:55 AM. This is a new low.
From here, Ashton goes through a series of ridiculous steps that make up his morning routine.

People forget that social media is performative.

You must show the extremes to get attention this way (6.5 million likes). Instagram’s culture is people showing other people how good they are. So it’s the worst demonstration of reality imaginable.

Yet many people (including you, Reader and me) casually scroll Instagram and TikTok and think they’re watching educational content.

They’re not.

My ideal morning routine is waking up at least 30 mins (or more) before my wife and boy. A moment to myself before all hands on deck. 6 AM makes a lot of sense for me – it’s not so early that I wake anyone up, but it’s also early enough that most of the world is asleep and distractions are reduced.

The whole point of having personal freedom is living life on your terms. Truly free people do whatever the f*ck they want. Someone free is a leader in their own right. Leaders lead. They don’t follow some gym bro on Instagram.

Personal freedom is thinking for yourself. It’s being action-oriented and ruthlessly chasing your obsession despite what the crowd thinks.

The Performance Economy

We're living in what we could call the "performance economy", where showing the work has become more valuable than doing the actual work. We see fitness gurus wake up to attack the day, but we never see the mornings when their kids vomit on them as soon as they get to school.

I try to talk about the good and the bad.

I've been posting every day on LinkedIn for the last four weeks; it would be impossible for it all to be good. (See what I learned here)

The cost of performance

The problem with performative BS is the emotional tax it puts on people who consume it.

At the end of everyone’s days, nobody’s life is perfect. And just about everything we see online is a well-constructed narrative.

When you're real with people about who you are, you don't have to work to be a different version of yourself. And you start to attract people who appreciate you for you, not a character you've created. See, when you're authentic, you build resilience. And when your audience knows the person behind your brand, they don't bail when you go through something tough or fall on your face.

Sometimes they even like you more for it.

I'm not writing this to suggest you start sharing every difficult moment or private struggle on social media to look relatable. Boundaries are healthy, and most parts of our lives should remain personal.

Escape the algorithm - a bunch of links of potential interest

Creator: @CIJamesVideo is one of favourite profiles atm. His performances cover political stories that traditional media don't.

Website: For a clearer view of what's going on in the news. All outlets push a narrative. Try Ground News. It tells you how many news outlets are covering a particular story and their political positioning. The point is to do your own research and form your own opinion.

Web read: You're not ready, by Wired. They've envisioned the future that we're not prepared for. And they show us with a well-executed scroll.

Conference: Creativity in the AI era: Threats vs Opportunities for the creative industry. My little adopted town Manresa has put together a conference at a museum in town with knowledgeable lineup (and me). I'm particularly pleased Manresa can put together something like this. Eat that, big city!

AI tool: Runway Gen-4. The consistency is insane. This 8-minute video will show you how powerful it is. Here's something I made this week with it.​

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AI prompt: Last time, I shared a prompt to create a vision of your peak version. This prompt I'm sharing today is designed to build on that -
​Analyze my current habits and their likely outcomes. Ask me about my daily routines, work patterns, and regular activities. After I've shared 5 habits, project the long-term impact and whether it aligns with my peak vision. Then suggest specific habit changes that would better support my biggest goals. Create a side-by-side comparison of where my current habits lead versus where optimized habits could take me.

If you got this far,

you're part of 71% of subscribers, so thank you, Reader.

Real beats perfect. Always.

Forget the noise. Pick what works. Drop the act, just a bit.

That’s progress.

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See you in two weeks.

​Peace,

Has

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