Information Overload

"INFORMATION OVERLOAD"

How much "information" is TOO much and what "information" is actually USEFUL information?

These are but a few of the questions that we all really need to be asking ourselves IF we are serious about controlling what we allow into our "mental mindset".

Why? Again, referring back to the old computer acrostic "G.I.G.O." = "Garbage In, Garbage Out". What you ALLOW in to your mental mindset will be what "comes out" in your thoughts and actions.

If that doesn't sober you up a little bit I'm not sure what will.

I emphasized the word, "ALLOW" two paragraphs earlier for a reason. Let's face it, we're not being FORCED as to what information goes into our heads, are we? Likely not. So, again getting honest with ourselves, we ALLOW this into our minds.

Did you go through your programming guide to see how much "news programming" is on during the course of a day on YOUR television channels? Again, I'm not even talking about the cable "news" channels that are on 24 hours a day but your "local" channels like NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox (no, not the Fox News Network).

Here's what I found when I researched my programming guide:

The local affiliates for NBC and ABC each have a total of 10 hours of "news programming" on as a combination of national and local programming. The CBS affiliate has 9.5 hours available and the local affiliate for the Fox channel only has 4 hours of local news programming. I also found that the local NBC affiliate begins this type of programming at 4:30 a.m. and continues it off and on throughout the day until 10:30 p.m. The ABC affiliate begins this type of programming at 2:30 a.m. and continues on and off until 10:30 p.m. (even though it just hit me that they do also have a national "news" program from 11:00 - 11:30 p.m. which brings them up to the same 10 hours a day as the other two that I mentioned.

I live in Arkansas which is a very small state. However, our local affiliates feel that there is some sort of need for those of us in the state to be inundated with MASSIVE amounts of local news available to us all throughout the day. Really?

Listen friend, I'm here to tell you that there is NOT enough "news" going on in this small state to justify the local NBC affiliate airing a local "news program" from 5:00 - 7:00 a.m. as well as from noon - 1:00 p.m. and then again from 5:00 - 5:30, 6:00 - 6:30, 7:00 - 7:30 and again from 10:00 - 10:30 p.m. Too, the local ABC affiliate offers similar local programming from 4:30 - 7:00 a.m., 9:00 - 10:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m. - Noon, 5:00 - 5:30 p.m., 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. and 10:00 - 10:30 p.m. Let's not forget the local CBS affiliate that offers the same type of "programming" beginning at 4:30 - 7:00 a.m. and then provides more from 9:00 - 9:30 a.m., Noon - 12:30 p.m., 5:00 - 5:30 p.m., 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. and again at 10:00 - 10:30 p.m.

Whew! That makes me tired just typing all of that!

My friend, this is INFORMATION OVERLOAD and I didn't even address the national "news programs" that are on off and on all day and night. And, yes, I put the words "news programs" in quotes for a reason and I will address that in the next podcast/article.

Remember, too, that we haven't even began to mention the so-called cable "news channels" that are on 24 hours a day.

HELP!

So, friend, what are you allowing in YOUR mind? What are you allowing to make a definite IMPACT upon your life and the lives of all that you have contact with on a daily basis? Remember the "ripple effect"?

Think about it - with the television turned off for a change and we'll continue this discussion tomorrow.

Until then, be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

www.MichaelSpillman.com

Your Information Diet

"YOUR INFORMATION DIET"

Simple task - tell me about your diet.

"Oh, but I'm not currently on a diet."

Sure you are. Tell me about it.

"No, see...you don't understand. I TRIED a diet but it didn't go very well so I quit."

Regardless, you are STILL on a diet. Whatever it is that you eat from day to day IS your diet! Now, when we look at it that way some of us might feel like crawling under a rock and hiding, right?

I hear people say, "I'm going to go on a diet" or "I'm going to start a diet" and, though I understand what they are trying to communicate, those words used are actually wrong.

The correct thing to say would be, "I'm going to CHANGE my diet" or "I'm going to IMPROVE my diet."

Get it?

Good!

Why is this so important? Well, first of all you can relax. We are NOT going to be talking about your nutritional diet in this series of discussions. We're going to be talking about your "mental diet" or your "information diet".

So, right off, let me ask you the same question that I asked before BUT this time in reference to your "mental or informational diet".

Tell me about your diet.

The thing is, most of us THINK we know about our "mental/informational diet" but, in reality we really have no idea.

It's time to find out!

Step one: FIND OUT WHAT IS AVAILABLE.

What do I mean by that? Simply go through your program guide (whatever or however that is available to you) and look through a 24 hour period and see how many "news programs" are on the air during that time period. However, DO NOT count your cable channels but ONLY count the "national" channels (NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX).

Seriously. Give it your best shot and see what you come up with.

I'll share mine with you during the next podcast/blog article. I thought I had a pretty good idea how saturated this type of programming was but I was still a bit shocked when I actually took the time to put it down on paper.

Do that and then come back tomorrow for the next entry on this topic and we'll see what you and I both do with what is available.

Until then...think about the old computer acrostic, "G.I.G.O" which stands for "garbage in, garbage out". It's a simple reminder that a computer is only as good as the programming. If you program "garbage" into the computer then guess what you'll get? GARBAGE!

The same is true when we think about our mindsets. Positive or negative?

Think about it.

And until next time...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

www.MichaelSpillman.com

Mike's Rant on the Media

The Rant Continues...

I hope you don't mind me taking this opportunity to let off a little steam about a few things. And, yes, I'm smiling as I type that sentence!

Today I'm going to rant about the media and the impact it makes on our lives each and every day. Before I get started on today's "rant" (yeah, I'm still smiling) I want you to try to figure out how much time each day - on average - you spend listening to and/or watching some sort of "news". Could there perhaps be a need for a change in your dose of "news" each day?

As I mentioned on today's podcast, think for a moment about all of the news outlets available to us each and every day. When I talk about this, I'm not even talking about newspapers and what's available on the Internet which would multiply the sources many times over!

How many 24 hour "news" channels can you think of? There are SEVERAL available to us out there each and every day to where, regardless of the time - day or night - you can turn the television on and get the "news".

In case you are wondering why I keep putting "news" in quotation marks it is because I believe that the majority of what is passed off as news is not really news. So, I'm using the term "news" in a very loose and general way.

Now, on top of all of the 24 hour "news" channels on a national level, you also have 24 hour "sports" (yeah, I'm using that one loosely and generally as well) networks as well that tend to try to get into the area of "news" quite often. Then, along with all of that you have the entertainment "news" shows that REALLY get into the "gossip" aspect of all of this.

Are you ready to go to the "local" level now? I can only speak of the way it is in Arkansas, so you will have to apply this to your local "news" market on this part. Most of our local news channels (the main networks - NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX) have an early morning "news" program that starts somewhere around 5 or 5:30 a.m. and goes until it's time for the national morning "news" programs. These generally run until 9:00 a.m. or, in the case of one network, 10 a.m. each day. In Arkansas, on the networks who's morning national program ends at 9:00 a.m. our local channels pick up with ANOTHER segment of morning "news" which ends at around 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. THEN several of them also have a noon "news" program that last for 30 minutes - and even one of them goes for a full hour. On top of all of that, each of these also has a "news" program from 5:00 - 5:30 p.m. (followed by the national "news" from 5:30 - 6:00 p.m.) and another from 6:00 - 6:30 p.m. and now a couple of these have extended this to an additional segment that goes from 6:30 - 7:00 p.m. We're not done yet! They hit us again with a 10:00 p.m. "news" segment that goes for another 30 minutes! However, the local FOX network has their evening "news" begin at 9:00 p.m. and again at 10:00 p.m.

CALGON TAKE ME AWAY!

Now, this is in ARKANSAS - there is just not THAT much to talk about around here!

But the truth is this: even nationally, there just really isn't THAT much to talk about! And, so, many times these networks must CREATE their own news by talking about things that aren't really news. Many of the things you will see talked about on these programs are full of controversy that rival the "entertainment news" (gossip shows) format.

Can you say OVER-KILL?

You could literally sit in front of your television ALL DAY and watch "news" from the time you get out of bed to the time you GO to bed and then, if you want, get up in the middle of the night and catch a peek at a little more. See why I asked you to determine your "dose" that YOU get each day? Might it be a little much? Could it be that you need to "wean" yourself off of this?

So, what does this have to do with what I ranted about yesterday? EVERYTHING!

When you consider the amount of time that is dedicated to "news" (again, for the most part the use of this word is a JOKE) then they have to fill that time with SOMETHING!

And, so, when a professional golfer crashes his SUV into a fire hydrant and tree at 3:00 a.m. and 911 is called - IT'S MAJOR NEWS that is shown over and over again and talked about to the point of redundancy!

Now, let me say this - I'm not letting Tiger Woods or so many of our "celebrities" off of the hook on this, o.k.? We'll be talking more about this tomorrow and on Thursday -- but right now I'm ranting about the media! (Yup, still smiling).

Really think about it - how many times did you see the SAME clip of his SUV crashed into that tree? Over and over again all day for several days!

Let's fast forward a few months to something that happened earlier this week - Tiger's "news conference" (Really? Are you kidding me?) for him to "apologize" to a few close friends PLUS a huge television audience! Was this something that REALLY merited all of those channels to "cut in" to their programming so that they could air this live?

And, because it was relatively short - 14 minutes, was it? - some channels (the so-called SPORTS channels...yeah, I'm talking about you, ESPN) decided it was worth showing in it's entirety more than once! If I had hair long enough to do it, I'd be pulling it out about now!

Wow, have I ranted long enough yet? (Smiling!)

Here's the thing that WE (those of you taking the time to read this) must think about --- IT'S ALL MOSTLY JUNK and NEGATIVE so we need to break away from it as much as possible!

Again, with as much time to fill as these "news" programs have to fill then they MUST find as much doom and gloom as possible. And, with today's technology it is now possible for them to get more and more often from ANYWHERE around the world!

I think it was the old ABC sports show called, "ABC's Wide World of Sports" that used a phrase along the lines of, "Spanning the globe..." Here's the thing - these "news" outlets are no longer just "spanning the globe" they are now scouring the globe to dig up anything that can to try to pass it off as "news".

Really think about that and how it impacts YOUR life and YOUR attitude each and every day.

Ahhhhhhh...now, I feel better!

Hey, seriously, thanks for joining me today and I do hope I've given you something to think about that can HELP YOU in your quest to live a POWERFUL and POSITIVE life!

And, as you do so, remember...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike