Be More Than the Algorithm

People say they want to be successful, but they behave like the person next to them. They try to make sure they are watching some of the same shows and make sure they are aware of the same memes, and the same viral clips. Let me be very clear:

Success and commonplace do not walk hand in hand.

Success and average have no common path to tread.

Success and what everyone else does are not neighbors.

Because the average person is not successful.

I am American, so let’s talk about America. Less than half of Americans report being happy with their lives. That’s overall happiness, but what about financial happiness. Not “do you make enough,” literally, but “do you think you make enough?” Again, less than half. Americans score their personal financial happiness at around 4.9/10. The average American is $18,700 in debt not including their mortgage, and given the average American income is just at $60,000 by around age 34, is it any wonder we worry about money? A third of our yearly salary would go to debt just to break even. People will say, “why work harder I just don’t care.” In 2024, less than 35 % of Americans were engaged at work; 65% felt it was purposeless and meaningless and not in alignment with their life goals beyond needing money.

About 53.8 million U.S. adults reported near-daily depression, anxiety, or both. That’s about 17 % of America and growing yearly. About 74 % of Americans are clinically overweight, and 43% of Americans self-report as being overweight and want to lose weight.

You can argue the exact sources of all of these or the validity of the minutiae of the numbers but the reality is you don’t want to be average. The average person around you is in debt, unhealthy, disengaged and unhappy.

You do not want to be average. So why are you? It’s not your fault. Not directly, but that doesn’t mean you can’t fight it. You are average, because you surrender to the algorithm. People talk about large language models and the rise of artificial intelligence but the algorithm that runs you is much older than that new technology.

Average is driven by the new currency of attention.

The YouTube algorithm tells you what to go watch, it tells you what is trending and important right now. Netflix, Disney+ and other streaming services tell you what is top ten in the nation now, so you can get on board with everyone else and decide you like it too, instead of blazing your own path. People will pre-scan books to make sure they have a happily ever after, and no struggle of type A, B, or C, because they are so downtrodden they can’t even handle a fictional rough relationship, and then the algorithm feeds them more of exactly that kind of fare.

We like what we like and there is nothing wrong with a self-selection algorithm but you need to learn to see that dependency is the current business model. Businesses want you dependent on them not just for your physical goods but for your welfare. Your decision making. Stop trading your gut, your thoughts and your decision making for convenience. Every time you let the algorithm tell you what to do, think or watch you are surrendering a piece of yourself. Every time you let it write for you, do your homework or tell you what the right path is in your next novel you are training it, and training yourself to be replaced.

Struggle. The average person won’t struggle. Take the path of greatest resistance. Do the hard things. Do the thing that no algorithm told you to do.

Working out is hard. Do it.

Getting that second job to bank a little is hard. Try it.

Learning to write is hard. Write the draft yourself anyway.

Being hungry a few hours a day is uncomfortable. Live with it.

Buying that shiny thing you were told you might also like by the algorithm is easy. Say no.

They own the path of least resistance and spend billions of dollars a year to tell you what it is and that you should walk it. You can choose to take a different road.

You pick the road. You only get to pick once.