There is a verse from the Bible that has stuck with me since I was a young child. I didn’t quite appreciate it in my youth but as a father that recognizes I have two sets of eyes watching me, it holds a type of wisdom that I now appreciate. It was written by St. Paul the Apostle while he was imprisoned and it says,

“Dear brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.”

- Philippians 4:8

Take a step back and look at all of the information you are being given and analyze it: there is no right or wrong. I’m not asking you to judge it, just observe the body of info you consume and ask what story does it tell? You’ve cultivated it, so it is your story. The world is just a mirror reflecting back your thoughts. Yes it is true that there are algorithms designed to give you content most likely to attract your attention but you curate that attention with every click. Even the amount of time you spend looking at a post or picture determines what you’ll be shown next. We feed ourselves meals of data, so naturally that consumption will determine who we are. 

When it comes to our digital lives a lot of people like to practice things like digital detoxes and spring cleanings. Conventional wisdom would suggest these are healthy exercises but the healthiest thing you can do is change the way you think. The first step towards that is by being acutely aware of what you feed it. If you want to change your body, you have to change what you eat. The same goes for the mind.

In our world today you can essentially download your mind anywhere. As you read this now you are in a way, inside my mind. This is a digital version of my thoughts. Oftentimes when we listen to a podcast or interviews of someone over time, we feel as though we know them. The same goes for musicians, artists and politicians, what they create, say and do are all outputs from what they choose to think about.

We as a species are going through the next phase of human evolution. Our thoughts and minds have a significant amount of power and influence that our ancestors did not have. Never in the history of mankind however, have our thoughts been for sale. In the digital economy we live in, currency is traded in likes, follows, views etc. We are the product that is being sold and the world is telling us that our attention is what is valuable. 

When it comes to my children, the challenge I face isnt as much about what do I allow them to eat but more importantly what they consume in all aspects of their lives. I didn’t grow up with much social media and my technological access was limited. I remember when we got dial up internet. Technology is woven into the fabric of my kids generation and is as normal and accessible as air. So the quality of the air they breath needs to be one that wont choke them.

In basic technology there is an input and an output. The input is the data the computer or device receives and the output is what it sends. It's pretty simple and the mind is no different. But the good news is that you get to determine what that input is. If life isn’t serving you the way that you expect or want, perhaps look deeper into what kind of life you're designing with your attention. I am not saying that you can simply will your way to everything you desire in life but our thoughts direct our actions, our actions become habits and daily behaviors shape our circumstances. It's about simple direct decisions of thought that influence each moment of our lives. 

Life is a collection of moments, so each one is important. When you capture the moments in life that are real and share the moments that are positive you are putting out what you’ve put in and that is how we create our own realities by what we feed our minds. 

James Allen in his 1902 book A Man Thinketh wrote: 

“A man cannot directly choose his circumstances but he can choose his thoughts and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances”. 

So it is important that we choose those thoughts wisely. 

Think about what in your life is serving you well and what is not. Connect the dots between what circumstances are tied to those thoughts and do basic math; subtract more of the thoughts that connect with negative circumstances and add more thoughts that contribute to the good. I’m not saying it's going to profoundly change your life but it will make an impact. 

Just like with physical exercise, you build a healthy body. The way you do that is by putting good content into it and practicing healthy habits. The mind is the same. Repetition and practice of healthy thoughts and feeding it good content, will put you on a path to peace or whatever it is you think. After all you are what you eat.