| People talk about a dichotomy between the online and the real world. They say to limit screen time, to "touch grass," to make sure the digital part of your life defers to the analog part of your life. There's definite truth in that recommendation, and it's one I've made plenty of times before, but there's more to it. Implicit in the discussion is the idea that an impassable gulf separates the online world and the real world. The analog and the metaverse. Real friends and Internet friends. But why? Why not make the online world real? Why not integrate the two, bring them into being? After all, you can't really avoid the digital. It's going to be a major part of the human experience for the foreseeable future. That's what I did back with the original PrimalCons. Although they ended up being really expensive to put on and too onerous to continue, we built something very powerful: a fusion between the online space and the real world. People could finally see that they weren't the only weirdos doing all this Primal stuff. They could see they weren't alone. That friend you've been chatting with for years on Twitter or Instagram or Xbox—go meet them. Have a Zoom call, at least, where you see each other's faces and hear each other's voices. You might be surprised at how close in geographical space you are to some of your online contacts. And instead of simply consuming all that content about health, self-improvement, financial hygiene, spirituality, cooking, or fitness, make sure you're trying it. Implementing it. Most people treat self-improvement like a spectator sport. They enjoy the feeling of being energized and excited about the prospect of real change and real improvements. When they’re reading the books, listening to the podcasts, scrolling through the Twitter feeds, watching the TED talks, consuming the content and taking notes about what they're going to do and how they're going to win, they feel like they’re taking the first step toward self-improvement. And they get a burst of dopamine that feels like victory. Consuming self-improvement content sure does feel productive. It tricks you into thinking you’ve just accomplished something. And sure, technically, getting an idea or learning a new concept and then deciding to implement it is the first step. It's a big step. But you have to keep going. Most don’t. They let that first dopamine burst diminish and instead of continuing with the original pursuit, they move onto something novel. The online world is real, and it's becoming increasingly realer and realer as time goes on. Treat it that way. What do you think? Is the online world real, or is it a big distraction? How do you integrate the online into your real life? Let me know in the comment section of New and Noteworthy. | 