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30 Day Challenge: Can you do without TV? June 22, 2008

Posted by Jeff Nabers in : Health, Personal Enjoyment, Personal Productivity , add a comment

I do a lot of things differently in an effort to enjoy my life. Sometimes I forget just how abnormal some of them are. This past week I co-instructed the IRA Association of America professional member enrollment course in Denver, CO. During a lunch conversation, one of our new members asked me what my secret is to accomplishing so much so rapidly. I half jokingly explained that I don’t watch TV. I guess this type of statement is more unbelievable than I had thought because a couple of hours later he still couldn’t believe it: “You really don’t watch any TV at all?”

“I don’t own a TV,” I explained. “I occasionally watch DVDs on my projector.”

I don’t watch TV for two reasons:

Mental & Physical Health – I believe that everything that goes into my body or mind becomes part of me. Turning on the TV means that I can choose to watch what’s available from a menu, but only if I also watch other things which I have no control over – commercials. Our thoughts create our reality. Having others’ thoughts shoved into my brain means letting other people create my reality.

Time – I want to enjoy my life. Every second is a decision. When I pit TV against snowboarding, snow skiing, wakeboarding, water skiing, bicycling, car racing, motorcycling, playing musical instruments, and traveling to new places… TV always loses. To afford some of these activities (more…)