How to Stop A Charging Buffalo
How to Stop A Charging Buffalo
Last year approximately 330 billion dollars were spent on advertising in North America… that’s a little under $900 per person, trying to get their attention. Somebody spent almost $1,000 on you. Just for your attention.
“The average American is exposed to 4,000-10,000 ads per day. That’s nearly double the number of ads the average person saw in 2007 and over five times as many ads as the average person saw in the 1970s. ”
According to zippia.com “The average American is exposed to 4,000-10,000 ads per day. That's nearly double the number of ads the average person saw in 2007 and over five times as many ads as the average person saw in the 1970s.”
Is it just me or does the world (specifially the internet world) feel more and more claustrophobic? It feels a little bit like being in a crowded market in a third world country. You look around and from every side, people are waving their hands and trying to talk over each other and get into better position to get your attention. If you don’t know what you are getting into, it can be a bit panic inducing.
Am I the only one that feels as though our collective attention is being taken over? As if there is an unstoppable force that is sweeping over us like a tsunami of distraction? If so, listen up. I might have a solution.
Years ago, I was at an expo and I got into an interesting conversation with a professional hunting guide from Africa. His job was to take clients on hunts, and his specialty was dangerous African animals. He told me that cape buffalo are the worst, because they are tough and have a mean personality. I wasn’t shocked by this but I didn’t really believe that he had likely had many close calls with them. I asked him “How often have you had to shoot a charging animal?” He took me over to a photo book with trophy photos, and flipped to a spread that had four different pictures of proud hunters posing behind a trophy cape buffalo, with this guide sitting next to them. “Look closely just above the buffalo’s noses,” he told me. There, just above the nose on three of the four cape buffalo pictured on the page was a clean, round hole. “When they charge, we aim just above the nose.” Whoa. I was talking to a legend. (Unless he was great at photoshop:) This was a guy that stares down charging cape buffalos and doesn’t flinch.
Maybe you are wondering “Wow, what on earth does this story have to do with anything?” Let me explain. Sometimes, when I feel as though I am being overwhelmed by the information and advertisements and influencers and startup small business and non profits and a thousand other things vying for my attention every time I open my phone, I forget that there is another option. You don’t have to be overwhelmed by the internet and social media. You can literally stop it in its tracks. Maybe the example is a bit extreme… but who’s the judge of that anyway? Like our legend friend in the story, you can stand your ground and aim just above the nose.
“For me it’s deleting the app.”
Stopping the “charge” of internet/social media overwhelm can look different for different people. For me it’s deleting the app. Because of what we do for a living, social media is a necessary part of my job. However, every time I need to post something, I need to go to the app store and download the app before I can post it. As soon as I am done, I delete the app. Strangely enough, I usually experience a sense of relief as soon as the app is deleted.
Maybe for you, it’s just a self imposed daily time limit. Of maybe deleting your account all together. Maybe it’s not social media. It could be any website or service on the whole internet. News, Youtube, Blogs (kinda ironic to read that one here, but oh well), Lifestyle, Product Reviews… the list is endless. Just know that if the internet is overwhelming you, it is your decision whether or not you want to stop the charge. Just press “off”.
