A Need To Be Sufficiently Entertained

I’m working with selfpubllshing.com to publish my book and while it’s still a few months away from being available for pre-order, I watched parts of their summit and got to hear a talk from their VP of Revenue, Aaron Schafer. 

His message caught me off guard because it was less about book publishing tactics and focused more on the inner game of being a successful business person - Someone who takes care of themself, takes action, and pursues a bigger vision. 

There was one concept in particular that really resonated with me: We claim that we’re driven by self-actualization and the fulfillment of maximizing our potential… But in reality we’re actually motivated by a need to be sufficiently entertained.

What a compelling, and deflating, contrast. It’s so on point. We can tell ourselves that we’re going to work hard, be bold, and make it happen… But it’s unlikely that our behavior naturally follows. We live in a world where we’ve been trained to be stimulated. Scrolling social media gives us new videos to consume. We swipe our email in the anticipation of seeing the one we’ve been waiting for in our inbox. 

Even when we have all the ambition in the world, we simply seek to be sufficiently entertained. And the truth of it is, entertainment isn’t competing with the great stretch ambition… It’s a means to alleviate mild emotional discomfort. It’s an escape.

We live in a world where it’s unusual to sit down and be with yourself. Many of us are so busy that we don’t even get that time. Because it’s not something we do, it has become unfamiliar and therefore uncomfortable. 

In many cases entertainment is actually avoidance. Instead of confronting the things we need to do that are hard, we keep ourselves numbingly occupied with content. Instead of taking the big or bold action that will change our life or grow our business, we prefer to learn about all the things we could do and chalk it up as productive because it was educational. But it doesn't actually change our life.

What I’m describing is the exact reason why I am writing the book, The Follow Through Formula. I was a personal development junkie that got trapped in being sufficiently entertained. In fact I was working so hard to constantly learn and consume that I was too busy to do anything about it. It caused me to feel like I was falling behind, that what I knew didn't match my results, and it was a source of self-doubt, frustration, and even made me question if I had what it takes to create the life I envisioned for myself. 

Unsurprisingly, once I started following through on what I was learning, everything clicked! My results started to match my ambition. Millions of downloads later on my podcast, I credit this shift to my breakthrough. Making the shift for yourself might be exactly what you need to initiate yours. 

‍