As part of some research I recently performed on a TV broadcasting business, I came across this awful statistics: people in Europe spend on average c. 3 hours a day watching TV. In the US, it’s more than 5 hours. How dreadful! And I will tell you why: TV is bad for your personal development – and here is why!
Let’s take 4 hours as the mid-point number. Assuming 8 hours of sleep per day, people spend 25% of their time awake in front of their TV set. Let’s go further: assuming 8 hours of work and 2 hours of logistics / eating / etc., people waste two thirds of their potentially useful time like couch potatoes.
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Stop watching TV instead of investing in your personal development!
These calculations are approximate but you get the point why it is so bad for your personal development: TV is a time drain, an evil magnet, your worst enemy. So here is a most basic but crucial advice for personal growth: Throw your TV away! Don’t even think of giving this poisoned gift to someone you like. Just throw it away! Or put it on ebay and with the proceeds buy a pair of sneakers, tickets to a concert for your family, or a few good books.
I don’t own a TV, I don’t have time for that. Life is too precious and I respect it too much for wasting it purposelessly. I want to design my own, not live it by proxy or get lobotomized by the idiot box. How many times have you said or thought: “I would love to do this but I don’t have the time.”? If you watch TV, no excuse, you’re just lying to yourself.
TV is gone? Next step: your personal development!
With the hours I save from the little demon, I invest in myself, I indulge in challenging and fulfilling activities. 4 hours a day is 28 hours a week, which is the time I need to learn a new language (3 hours a week), stay fit and prepare for a race (6 sessions or 8 hours a week), play guitar and sing (3 hours a week), meditate (1 hour), read books (3 hours) and work on a side project (10 hours).
These are just personal examples. You can as well learn how to cook, write a blog, do yoga, spend quality time with your kids or engage in any other constructive activity. Push yourself and develop new skills. Bring flow to your life. You’ll feel regenerated and gratified while “easy pleasures” like watching TV don’t induce long-lasting happiness; they actually make you depressed.
Craft the life you want. Create, don’t consume content. Don’t waste your time passively. It won’t help you rest, it will make you more tired. Build positive habits with the time that you set free. You will bring meaning to your life and will soon reap the fruits of these activities you do repeatedly: reading will refine your judgment; exercising will make your body lean; learning how to cook will enchant your friends!
The main idea we wanted to share with you here is that climbing the ladders of personal growth and reaching your full potential is as much about the things you don’t do than it is about the things you do. Get rid of everything purposeless in your life, clean your personal space and make room for new things, meaningful activities that you choose.
Climbing the ladders of personal growth and reaching your full potential is as much about the things you don’t do than it is about the things you do.
So go for it: smash your TV! Crush your self-destructive habits and start your personal revolution. Wake up, dust off your dreams and become who you are.
At Goalmap, we have created a free self-development platform for the people who share this philosophy of life. It allows you to set and track all your goals, both positive (e.g., exercise 3 times a week) and negative (e.g., don’t watch TV more than 1 hour per week). If we’ve convinced you that watching too much TV is bad for your health, you can join and personalize the goal “Watch less TV“ See you soon on goalmap!
