Have you heard of the term “confirmation bias”? It is the tendency to look for information that aligns with your thought process and beliefs. For example, you are more likely to socialize with people who share your beliefs about a certain topic rather than challenge you. You also tend to follow news portals which showcase news that align with your political beliefs.

Social media uses this exact human tendency to feed you information in the form of posts, reels and blogs that make you reiterate your beliefs. This bias usually prevents you from objective and unbiased decision making. It does not allow you to accept anything that does not align with your thought process and clouds your judgement. This isn’t a good thing, right?

But what if you could use the same bias to reframe your thought process and enforce a healthy and positive mindset?

You can use this bias to your advantage by selectively choosing social media content to fuel your motivation. Instead of letting your mind go into a downward spiral of negative thoughts, intentionally choose to watch content that empowers you. Here is how you can do that –

• Follow influencers who create motivational content and empowering narratives. Not just that, look for their content deliberately the first few times until it automatically pops up on your feed everyday
• Expose yourself to motivational podcasts atleast once a week; this gradually sets the rhythm every week until you learn to pick yourself up faster when you hit a low
• Set achievable goals! You do not need to workout 5 days a week. Start with walking everyday for 30 minutes and slowly build up on it. Similarly, eating clean for all meals might be a challenge for you, so start with fixing your breakfast and slowly work your way through the other meals every week.
• Reflect on your thoughts every time you feel stuck. Getting stuck is normal for each one of us, it is not a sign of failure. Do not beat up or shun yourself for it, taking it in stride will actually help you process a solution to the problem
• Recall your success, everyday. It can be something as small as waking up at the same time consistently, choosing a fruit over biscuits at tea time, etc. Congratulate yourself on these small wins. It might seem crazy but you are the best cheerleader you can find for yourself.

It often helps to have a buddy, a friend or a coach to validate your efforts during the initial days of your journey. So if you ever feel social media is dragging you down, remember — you can train your mind to find evidence of the good. And if you’d like a helping hand while doing it, I’m here for you.