The Allure of Constant Growth

In today’s world, growth is the goal, and we're all chasing it.

We're all drawn in by the latest podcasts, self-improvement videos, and the lure of productivity hacks that promise to boost our efficiency 1000x. But it's a whirlwind, which can sometimes become too much.

Too much that we can convince ourselves that if we aren’t ingesting everything around us, we are falling behind. That we will not be successful, that we will fail.

For me, this fascination turned into a content trap.

The quest for knowledge about self-improvement, fitness, health, and business was incessant. I, like many of you, thought that by listening to experts talk about these topics, I could retain it all.

But the reality?

It's a never-ending content merry-go-round, and we're all riding it, going round and round, but never making significant progress towards the promised lifestyles these experts preach.

This pitfall is the illusion of easy answers.

Listening to a podcast doesn’t take much effort. We can play them during a commute or while making breakfast.

But herein lies the problem: the lack of focused engagement.

You believe that because you have been exposed to these easy answers, you will apply them and change for the better.

However, the crucial information, often missed, is quickly forgotten as we switch to the next thing.

Taking another ride around the merry-go-round.

Passive Learning is wasteful

To solve this issue, I turned to active engagement. I'd sit down with a podcast and take incessant notes. But podcasts are long now, often extending beyond an hour. There's just too much information. So much information that I needed to pause and rewind, turning a 1-hour podcast into 2.

I recognised that this solution was not sustainable. It flies in the face of what has made these long pieces of content so popular.

The feeling that you are learning while completing more mundane tasks like cleaning the house, or commuting to work.

However, this is passive learning.

Passive learning is when you are not actively engaging. The general message gets through, sure.

But the nuanced insights?

Those are lost.

This is a massive opportunity loss. We are missing the amazing opportunity afforded to us every day to implement the wisdom of seasoned experts into our lives.

From Passive to Active

There is an opportunity to simplify - distil the information within content into a set of actions that can be followed.

This has already been done and is available.

But, there is a missing piece.

Consistent action.

If you want to change, you have to force action. You have to turn these insights into a medium that we make time for and can be consistently actioned.

This got me thinking:

What do we use to track our weeks? Calendars

And what is it that we do consistently? Routines.

So, I propose that we create a new way to share this information in a way that forces consistent action - weekly calendars that contain every action proposed by the expert that will ladder you up to your goal.

Think of it this way:

A podcast about diets that promote gut health becomes a weekly grocery list.
A skincare routine discussed by an expert? That's arranged into a time block in your calendar.

You no longer need to download another app that fixes that issue.

Everything is contained in something you use every day - your calendar.

You can focus on the most important - taking action.

A Look into the Future

I’m turning this proposal into reality. I'm listening to podcasts or watching videos, distilling the wisdom of experts and transforming it into routine calendars.

The best part?

They're free and readily downloadable.

Find them here (https://haydnmann.gumroad.com/).

As a long-term goal, I envision an app where influencers can upload their own routines, which I am currently building with my co-founder Will.