Naval Ravikant's 7-step protocol to detox the mind from "media's life-long damage"

If we sit and think, even for a minute, our entire day, month, year and life in general, revolves around media. Be it a reel you are watching in the washroom, an episode of your favourite series you are catching up on in the metro or the news you are watching during dinner, all sources of information for most people come from the media. What they show as true and false forms our narratives of it, and our thoughts form an imaginative world where everything revolves around the news.
In a conversation with YouTuber Chris Williamson, Indian-American entrepreneur and investor, Naval Ravikant shared how every single world problem has turned into a "memetic virus" that is infecting the mind in real-time so that you get obsessed.
"I am as guilty as everybody of news surfing on media and getting worked up about things that I can't do anything about. If you find yourselves getting caught in the loop of problems, you have to step away from that," he added. He explained how modern media serves as a delivery mechanism for these memetic viruses and your mind becomes a battlefield of compelling narratives.
He stated how he reminds himself not to engage in the loop with a line: "Your family is broken, but you're going to fix the world?" He explained how half of the problems in one's mind are created by interpreting them as one and then we end up spending a lot of emotional energy on them. He added how the real currency of life is attention and we end up giving it to topics out of our control, saying, "Your attention is the only thing you have."

The 50-year-old entrepreneur shared a protocol featuring 7 steps that can help people stay out of the media-created world problems loop and focus on what actually matters in their lives and the world.
The first step is to cultivate indifference to things outside your control in order to preserve your peace. One must differentiate between topics that deserve their mental energy and those that don't.
Valuing your immediate sphere of influence, such as your work, health, mindset and relationships, is more beneficial. Figuring out areas of improvement there and taking necessary actions where you can actually create change will be more fruitful.

He also introduced a term called "information fasting" wherein you are careful about the information you put inside your mind. Unfollow accounts that provide you with negative energy and present information that makes you anxious, such as "the world is ending soon".
Developing a mental filter is another highly effective step. Ask yourself questions such as "Is this relevant to my life?", "Can I do anything about this?", "Will this matter a week from now? A year?", and "Is this designed to manipulate my emotions?". If a piece of information fails this test, let it go.
Remember that most problems solve themselves. Most predicted catastrophes are eye-catching headlines for views. The doom they predict rarely arrives, but gets you anxious just the same.
Watch your information channels, and check whether they are leaning towards one side or another. Ask: "Who benefits from me believing this?"
Lastly, build your life around creation, not consumption. "The mind mud wrestling itself is also a problem," Naval said. He suggested creating anything rather than consuming something. It filters out the noise and gives you purpose beyond the news.