Good Thinking

Todd Henry [00:00:03]:
In a small town in Iowa, there lived a man named Dale Schroeder who embodied the essence of simplicity and humility. Every morning, Dale would pack his lunch, climb into his old weathered truck, and head to work as a carpenter, a routine that he maintained for an astounding 67 years. Dale's life was a masterclass in modesty. He never walked down the aisle. He never experienced the joys of parenthood. And he seemed content with the basics of life. His colleagues knew him as the man who drove the same trusty truck year after year, bringing his packed lunch to work without fail. But what his friends and acquaintances didn't realize was that beneath this simple exterior, Dale was quietly orchestrating something extraordinary.

Todd Henry [00:00:46]:
With each passing year, his bank account grew, though you'd never guess it from his lifestyle. Through decades of disciplined saving and modest living, Dale had accumulated a fortune that would astonish anyone who knew him. Nearly $3 million. When Dale passed away in 2005, his friends were astonished to learn that this humble carpenter had left behind more than just wealth. He had left a profound vision. He had earmarked his entire life savings to create a scholarship fund for Iowa students who couldn't afford to go to college. His only request was beautifully that the recipients would pay it forward in their own unique ways. This single act of generosity created a cascade of opportunity that would transform dozens of lives.

Todd Henry [00:01:31]:
The impact of Dale's decision was far reaching and profound. His Legacy initially helped 33 students graduate from college without the burden of debt. These graduates went on to become doctors, teachers, engineers, and various other professionals, each carrying forward Dale's spirit of generosity in their own way. One recipient aptly described it as a ripple effect of kindness. As many of these graduates have gone on to impact others lives, positively extending Dale's legacy far beyond his initial gift. Dale Schroeder's story challenges our assumptions of what it means to live a meaningful life. It also reveals something powerful about the power of focused intention. And that brings me to the point of this episode.

Todd Henry [00:02:14]:
How did Dale's story make you feel? Did it inspire you? Did it challenge you? Did it make you think a little better of the world? What we choose to fill our mind with shapes our perspective and even our creativity and leadership in profound ways. When we consistently expose ourselves to inspiring stories, challenging ideas, and diverse perspectives, we're essentially programming our mental algorithm to spot opportunities for innovation and impact. Conversely, when we fill our minds with noise, noise, negativity, or shallow content, we limit our ability to see beyond the immediate and obvious. In essence, our minds are like gardens, they grow what we plant in them. On today's episode, we explore the impact of what makes up our minds, what we fill it with, and how we can be more purposeful about the stimuli that we allow past the gatekeepers. This is Daily Creative, a podcast for creative pros who want to be brave, focused, and brilliant every day. My name is Todd Henry. Welcome to the.

Gabriel Reilich [00:03:19]:
Upworthy is a company that's all about sharing stories about human decency, compassion, empathy, connection. Sort of the stuff you might not normally see on the front page of the newspaper being tweeted across the Internet or shared. We've seen a lot of desire for people to see those sort of stories.

Todd Henry [00:03:39]:
That's Gabriel Reilig, head of content and innovation at Upworthy, a site dedicated to sharing the stories of the best of humanity. And it's a pretty substantial project.

Gabriel Reilich [00:03:49]:
At Upworldly, we have about 5 million followers or so.

Todd Henry [00:03:53]:
Gabriel and his collaborator, Lucia Nell, have just published a book of stories called Good Stories from the Best of Humanity, which is now a New York Times bestseller. The book highlights some of the most profound stories they've come across at Upworthy over the years.

Gabriel Reilich [00:04:08]:
And Lucia and I sat there and we read through them all, and some of these, you know, stood out on their own as just, you know, a little nice sentence or two. And then some of them were the seeds of something great. And these are the stories that we focused on. Like, what were the ones that we wanted to know more about? And so we would identify those. We would reach out to the people who left those comments and ask them, hey, would you be willing to let us interview you about this experience and tell us the whole story? And we did that hundreds of times, and that became, you know, the stories in the book.

Todd Henry [00:04:42]:
Gabriel and Lucia have dedicated their work lives to elevating these stories that highlight the best of humanity, but not just because they're good stories. There's something more that happens when we are exposed to these uplifting narratives. They kind of spark us.

Gabriel Reilich [00:04:56]:
The effects can be profound, and it's. Look, we're not here to say that there aren't very real problems in the world. There are many, and they deserve attention, and they deserve us focusing on them to solve them. But I think that we can agree that there is an outsized amount of focus put on them, particularly in the media and, you know, among ourselves, person to person, a lot of times I'd say, okay, we need to pay attention to only the bad stuff that's happening and the danger with only, you know, focusing on the difficult things that are happening in the world is it can end up coloring your perception about humanity. You end up thinking that people are only bad, that they're untrustworthy, that you should be scared of the world and not engage with folks because you're going to get hurt. You know, it's a little bit like love in that way. Oh, I'm not going to love because I might get hurt. You know, I'm not going to engage with, you know, the world from a sense of kindness because I might get burned.

Gabriel Reilich [00:05:55]:
It's certainly a possibility, but what kind of life is that?

Todd Henry [00:05:59]:
George Gerbner, a pioneering media researcher and former dean of the Annenberg School for Communications, developed a fascinating theory in the 1970s that's more relevant today than ever. He coined the term Mean World Syndrome. After conducting extensive research of the effects of television viewing on people's perceptions of reality. Gerbner discovered that heavy television viewers, particularly those who consumed a steady diet of violent or sensational news content, tended to believe the world was much more dangerous and threatening than it actually was. This wasn't just about fear. It was a fundamental misalignment between perception and reality. In today's digital landscape, Mean World Syndrome has evolved far beyond television. Social media algorithms 247 news cycles and constant connectivity bombard us with an endless stream of crisis, conflict and catastrophe.

Todd Henry [00:06:53]:
The result? Well, many of us are developing an increasingly distorted view of reality, one that emphasizes threat, division and danger over cooperation, progress and possibility. This warped perception has real consequences for our creativity and our leadership. When we believe we're living in an inherently hostile world, we become more risk averse, less likely to trust others, and less open to new experiences, which are all crucial elements for creative thinking and effective leadership. The antidote, as Gerber suggested, isn't to completely disconnect from all media, but rather to be more intentional about our media consumption. By consciously balancing our intake of news and information, seeking out positive stories of human achievement and cooperation, and regularly fact checking our assumptions about the world against reliable data, we can maintain a more accurate and hopeful worldview. This awareness of Mean World Syndrome and its effects is crucial for anyone looking to maintain mental clarity and creative potential. In today's information saturated environment, when our perception is skewed, it can actually shape our reality.

Gabriel Reilich [00:08:03]:
Now if you think about that, if you accept that narrative is true and then you start behaving that, that means it becomes a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy. Because you carry that energy out into the world, you're worse to people as a result. And then the World gets worse versus trying to take a step back and thinking, okay, what is actually happening here? What stories are happening that are good, what narratives about people are positive and can I carry that feeling with me? So the next time I have an opportunity to help somebody, I do. The next time I recognize a situation which I can plug in to be good to people, I do. And then it can become a self fulfilling prophecy in the opposite way, you know, that kindness can spread. It sounds like a little trite in some ways, but I think that there is, you know, media theory and scientific backing to it because even just witnessing a kind act can make you feel better. These are things that have been studied.

Todd Henry [00:08:56]:
Yeah. I would even argue, I mean, I spent a lot of my time working with leaders and creative pros, people who have to go to work and solve problems. And they're leading organizations and it's interesting that the people who consume more thoughtful materials, right, Meaning they're interacting with ideas, big ideas, possibilities. They're focusing more on sort of the optimistic vision that they're pursuing than they are on all of the things that go wrong or even just all of the things that have gone wrong.

Gabriel Reilich [00:09:27]:
Right.

Todd Henry [00:09:27]:
Or the things that are going wrong around them tend to be better positioned, I think, to bring more energy, more enthusiasm, more optimism. They tend to be looking for abilities. There's a kind of trust that we need, a trust in the world and the way things are that we need in order to be able to bring that kind of creative enthusiasm to the workplace. And it feels like so much of the media culture is designed to kind of erode that inherent trust that we have that we're working together toward a better possible future. Right. And I think that that's corrosive in some ways to our creative process.

Gabriel Reilich [00:10:07]:
Precisely. I mean, Todd, think of the implications, right? It's. If you were trying to solve big problems, you know, what's the best way to inspire people to do that? Is it to grind them down by how horrible things are or is it to inspire around the possibilities? I mean, it's obvious when you, when you put it that way, but yet we exist in this ecosystem that feeds us one terrible thing after another. And from that place, it's very hard to challenge and change large systemic issues and to try to create, you know, change in a beautiful and positive way. And, you know, maybe that's an accident, maybe it's not. Maybe it's tapping into like a, you know, just part of human nature where we're drawn to the dramatic. But regardless, you know, you need to lift people up in order to do great things. And so I think that's a really great observation.

Gabriel Reilich [00:11:02]:
And that's true whether you're trying to make social change or whether you're trying to make change in an organization, at your business, among your friends and family, whatever it is, you don't get there by telling people how bad they are or how horrible things are, or at least that doesn't result in, I think, the kind of differences that people actually want to see take place in this world. There's a story. It's the one that closes out the book, and it stays with me. I think about it often. It's called Curly Fries, and it's about a. A young man who is on leave from the military, and he's headed back to the base, and he's exhausted. He's leaving his family. He doesn't really want to go back, you know, but he's going to, obviously.

Gabriel Reilich [00:11:49]:
And he stops at a diner in Texarkana, and he's hungry and tired. Comes across a guy who is wearing a shirt that says Curly Fries. And it's a picture of Curly from the Three Stooges. And he's, like, poking a fork into an electric socket, and his hair is, like, frizzing out, you know, and, you know, our friend, he's maybe a little delirious or whatever it may be, but he just finds the shirt to be hilarious. And he tells the guy, he's like, dude, that's a great shirt. You know? And then that provides just a moment for the two of them to connect. They start talking. They're both.

Gabriel Reilich [00:12:25]:
This guy's ex military. This guy's currently in the military. And he asks him where he's going. He says, I'm going back to Port Aransas. And he tells him the route. He's like, no, no, no, don't take that route. You know, Take it. Take a different way.

Gabriel Reilich [00:12:37]:
This is the way to go. It's longer, but trust me, you know. And so, long story short, you know, he ends up taking that route. Gives him a chance to think, gives him a chance to see his country, his life in a different way. And it creates the space for him to find some solace that he hadn't found, Right? And obviously, it's a very personal experience. You know, not everybody who talks to a random stranger in a diner is going to have this experience. But for him, it was something that he carried with him forever in, like, really difficult times. He would remember this trip that he took.

Gabriel Reilich [00:13:11]:
He would remember the songs that he heard along the way. He would remember this man who took the time to connect with him at a time when he was feeling low. And John is his name. You know, he went through some really difficult times afterwards and he would rely on this. Now. The reason it sticks with me and a lot of stories have this theme is like how profound a seemingly innocuous conversation or moment between two people can be. You know, you just don't know what that is going to be like. You don't know what a conversation is going to lead to.

Gabriel Reilich [00:13:42]:
And for him, it has led to this well of support that he needed for the rest of his life. You know, going on now. He still thinks about it. It's in this book, he shares it. It's hopefully it will inspire other people. And I find that extremely empowering because I think about how any of us, in any particular moment, you know, we could have a conversation that could be like that for somebody, you know, whether that just be out in the world or, you know, in the workplace or, you know, among family members and friends, that you may say something that you, you may not even give it a second thought that it might be something that matters, but it does. And I say it's empowering because I think we live in a system where we've given up a lot of agency, you know, to different systems at work, you know, our attention, you know, the money that we make, the jobs that we have to do. But the thing that we truly still have complete control over is how we interact with individuals in any given moment.

Gabriel Reilich [00:14:36]:
And that story is a reminder to understand the weight and the power of that. So I think about that one often.

Todd Henry [00:14:44]:
Gabriel Reilich and Lucia Null's New York Times bestselling book, Good Stories from the Best of Humanity is available now wherever books are sold. And you can hear our full interview in which Gabriel shares the three Bs of how we can be more mindful about our media consumption in the Daily Creative app at DailyCreative app. Hey, thank you so much for listening. Again. If you'd like full interviews, Q and A segments, daily episodes, courses, and much, much more, you can do so in the Daily Creative app at DailyCreative app. My name is Todd Henry. You can find my work, my speaking, and all of my books@toddhenry.com or wherever books are sold. Thanks so much for listening.

Todd Henry [00:15:29]:
Until next time. May you be brave, focused and brilliant.

Gabriel Reilich [00:15:33]:
Sa.