Which would you rather read, an article that’s interesting, or an article that’s important?
Every day that you go online you will literally be bombarded with information. There’s just way too much, and it’s all being thrust in front of us. It’s in the sidebars of most every site you visit. Headlines fill the pages of the internet. And it’s just not possible to process all of it.
So what do we do?
We filter it out.
Our minds filter through all the information that we see on the screen and they pick out the ones that grab our attention. But what grabs your attention most effectively—an article with a catchy headline that sounds really interesting, or a headline for an article that sound like it has important, valuable information.
For most of us, our attention shoots toward the headlines and pictures that look the most interesting. And this causes headline writer and bloggers to sensationalize in their headlines rather than write headlines that accurately depict the information in the associated article.
This isn’t a new phenomenon. People have been writing sensationalized headlines for over a hundred years. But today, there is so much information available and thrust in front of us that it seems like some people have started writing headlines that bear almost no resemblance to the article they’re meant to describe.
This has led me to distrust headlines, yet I still find myself falling victim to their devices. I click on a headline that sounds really interesting, just to find myself reading senseless drivel. So I’ve had to decide to focus my limited time and attention on finding and absorbing valuable, important information rather than the information that just sounds interesting.
So this begs the question, what do you want to read? What do you want to spend your time learning? Would you rather read sensationalized articles that teach you nothing that could benefit your life? Or would you rather spend your time reading important information that could help you improve yourself and your business?
It’s a trade-off. Interesting information is just that, interesting. It’s easy to read. If it’s really interesting, then it’s easy to lose track of time as you absorb it. Important information can be interesting, but if you don’t find it interesting then it won’t be any fun to read. You’ll find yourself struggling just to make it to the end of the article.
So what do you do?
The truth is, there is a lot of great, important, and valuable information out there that’s written in a way that it’s interesting to read. Maybe not as interesting as the latest celebrity news, but interesting nonetheless. My challenge to you is to seek it out. The next time you start surfing the internet for something to read, think about what information would help you improve your life. Whether it’s in your personal life, your family life, or your professional life, figure out what information would help you improve, and seek it out.
Sensationalized headlines will continue to bombard your screen. That’s not going to stop. In fact, it’ll probably get worse. But as you seek out good information, it’ll become more interesting. You only have a limited amount of time to learn and grow. So what do you want spend that time learning? There’s only so much that your mind can absorb. So what do you put into it?
Along those same lines, I want ask you for some feedback.
What information do you want from Income School? What resources and tools could we provide that would be really helpful for you? What services could we offer that would help you be more successful?
Tell us what you think in the comments below.
