1,000,000 Views Will Never Be Enough For Your Ego

Wow. 

What a statement to make from a dude who’s made his entire living from talking about himself online.

I used to make videos on Facebook praising an entire country just so I could get more views.

I’d check the view counts, likes, and comments relentlessly after it was published.

In the center of all this lies a harsh lesson.

I was completely addicted to feeding my ego.

It wasn’t about how many likes or comments I got. It was what those likes and comments and said about me.

They shouted “YOU’RE AWESOME, TOM” 

And that is absolutely addicting.

I still am addicted in some regards. 

I’m a recovering ego feeder.

And I’m writing this because I see MANY popular content creators on MANY platforms going down a path that’s not fulfilling and, ironically, emptier than the 0 views they used to get.

Our Ego Looks Like This

If you’ve ever seen the Academy-Award winning movie ‘Spirited Away,’ you know the scene with the spirit “No-Face” where he turns into a monster.

A once-gentle and shy spirit at the beginning of the movie, it sees that the people of the bathhouse — the main setting of the movie — react favorably when he gives them gold. 

So he starts showering people with it. 

They also give him ridiculous amounts of food to sate his appetite.

In his greed for sustenance, he starts swallowing the workers of the bathhouse itself (yeah, it’s freaky, but stay with me).

The main character, Chihiro, decides to confront the spirit and ask him why he’s doing all of this. No-Face replies that he’s lonely and addicted to the praise and adoration of the workers in the bathhouse.

So what’s the point, Tom?

The point is this is exactly what fame on social media can do to us.

Our ego is like the monster that No-Face becomes. It can never get enough. It just wants more attention and is more than willing to give out whatever the audience wants to get it.

That’s what I used to do. 

Doing This Got Me 500,000 Followers

Yeah, I loved the Philippines but there wasn’t any real reasoning for me to make videos about that country besides the fact that it got me more attention and money.

If making videos about the Philippines DIDN’T get me that attention, I wouldn’t have made videos about the Philippines.

And I see so many content creators selling out for whatever will get them the attention these days just like I did.

You see this everywhere.

“How I made $10,000 In One Month In My Business”

“How I Built A 6-Figure Company”

“How I Got A Million Views On LinkedIn”

I went from being the creator who wrote crap like this to hating the creators who wrote crap like this.

Now I just feel bad for them.

They are attempting to find fulfillment by feeding their own ego, and that is never going to work out for them.

They’re drowning themselves and they don’t even know it.

Something feels off deep down inside, but they’re getting too much positive reinforcement to believe that anything needs to change.

It’s sad.

The Solution To The Madness

So what’s the solution here?

Never write about yourself ever again? Delete your social media channels and go become a monk?

Of course not. The answer, as always, is balance. 

Telling your story can be incredibly helpful for people. That’s what makes a lot of this so complicated. You’re not only feeding your ego, but you’re also inspiring other people which is…good…right?

Right!

It is good!

And you should be happy about that.

But don’t sell out and talk about all of your accomplishments in every post that you ever publish. 

We get it. You did the thing. You did the thing that allowed you to live the life of your dreams. We’re happy for you, but we’re also a little sad because clearly you’re addicted to the attention that bragging can bring.

Which will never be enough, honestly.

So talk about other stuff. Create content sometimes that’s SOLELY about helping other people — not telling everybody how great you are or what you did.

We love you already. 

I teach people how to share their life stories on LinkedIn without falling down the endless pit of ego-feeding. If you want to learn more about how to post there, try taking my free course “How To Post Every Day For 30 Days On LinkedIn.”