TV Ads, Stress, And Anxiety

what I do instead

Written By Lynn Dorman, Ph.D. | Musings | 0 Comments

It’s THAT time of the year — again [sigh]

My inbox and social media feeds are filled with mail/posts selling me on the advantages of:

planners
courses about planning
products on how to use AI to make my year “better” “great” “etc.”
health-related info on starting the year off the “right” way
making resolutions [personal and business]
and more…

Except for the AI which is sort of new this year — the posting and the emails are the same every December and January.

But last year some of it started back earlier in the Fall because everyone knows:

“I have to get your attention about January 2024 in the middle of the summer or early fall or else you won't buy my product.”

It’s fine if you do the above - and even better if making resolutions works for you…

I no longer make them.

I used to.

I’d read a lot of that “how to succeed” stuff, that “guru” stuff, that “my friends say this works” stuff, and would make a list of what I would accomplish in the upcoming year….

Then at some point during the year, I’d look at my resolution list and laugh [or cry] as so little of it ever got done! Or done with any degree of consistency.

So I stopped making New Year resolutions. It seemed to not be good for my mental health OR my productivity. My brain doesn't like lists!!

I've discovered that I am not alone. Many, if not most, people did not follow theirs either.

Especially these:

"I am going to exercise every day” resolution or “I am going to lose X pounds this year” or “I am going to lose 5 pounds a month.”

And work-related resolutions?

The “I will write a post a day,” or “I will write a book before Summer,” or I will do X by Y time frame.

Ditto the very popular “I will be making $XXX a month by the end of March or April” type of resolution.

These resolutions generally do not work.

Why? We tend to set impossible resolutions or standards for ourselves. They are often more wishful thinking than actual planned-out behaviors. Not sticking to these resolutions may make us feel like failures so early in the new year, and yes, the ad people play into this guilt.

Watch ads early in the year and note those aimed at making us feel guilt and shame over NOT keeping resolutions. They may not be direct, but they are aimed at guilt making!!

my insteads

With two major professional degrees and several accolades, I know I am not a failure.

I actually CAN and DO accomplish things - but I have ceased the resolution-type thinking and adopted a more casual approach to my life. It took some hard work on my part to re-think the business/life model that keeps telling us we “need” to make a yearly, monthly, daily plan… or else!

I choose "or else"

Opting for the “or else” works for me!

Every choice can be the “correct way!"

I let my mind wander!

I now enjoy late December/early January as we get an added minutes of daylight every afternoon.

I use this light/dark scenario to reflect, have fun, and think about my work - but not make any of this into resolutions,
to-do lists, or anything tightly scheduled!

I do a non-journal kind of journaling

I call it my mental meandering but it’s more like a brain dump. This is one activity I do most every day but without the “I must do it” kind of thinking, so I often don't do this. And that’s okay!

Apple has made this easier for me as they released a journal app and I have started using that app - but still not every day - I figure a few days a week [maybe] works for me.

stress I was recently working on a course [and now doing an ebook] about stress – and so I was very tuned into my own levels of stress and anxiety.

I was trying to figure out something about how to catch the start of that stress while it is motivating and before it goes over to being the “bad” level of stress.

I’ve always known that I have an antenna for stress and anxiety and I tend to pick those from other people – which was good [in a way] when I was a therapist but I had to watch that it did not raise mine which was a hard task sometimes.

Anyway, while working on this course, when I took a break I tended to watch television.

I don’t watch television that much but my neighbors gifted me with a little flat screen TV – so I bought an antenna and again can watch some non-cable stuff.

First thing I realized was why I hate TV.

I really do hate the medical ads.

I’ve written about them before in the context of we have a pill for everything because no matter what’s “wrong” with you there’s a pill – and of course we at big pharma tell you what’s “wrong” even if it’s a normal human behavior like peeing.

ARGH!!!!!

But I digress -which is easy when big pharma is on my mind.

anxiety Anyway – while listening to [and not actually viewing] the ads, I realized that the tone of speech, the music, and the way the whole ad unfolds, actually raises one’s anxiety level and increases one’s stress!

I guess it was designed that way by the admen to send you screaming to your physician saying

I want that pill!

Whatever it is!

I want it!!

SIGH – so miss the days of TV when pills were not allowed to be advertised.

Now they are and they have created a whole slew of problems.

More about those at another time.

Thoughts? Comments?

Thank you!

Do you make resolutions? Do they work for you? Or if not - what do you do - if anything? Please comment below and thank you for reading.

what I do instead

my insteads

I choose "or else"

I let my mind wander!

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