Do We Live in Echo Chambers?

If we do, how do we break out of them?

As you know, we believe that when we build relationships, everything else grows too. This is why we believe in intentional relationships building. Why we believe your intentions when building those relationships matter. Recently a concept came across my desk and it got me thinking. Although we build relationships, do we build relationships within an echo chamber? Do we only meet people who are like us? Do we only repeat experiences? And if we do… if we are basically on repeat, how do we break the cycle?

Let me explain where this is coming from…

I found this company…? Website? I actually don’t know what to call it… Impact Theory. I found them accidentally with a Robin Sharma interview on his book “The 5 AM Club”. This was the first time I had seen one of their interviews. But today, after doing some research for some processes I’m working on, a Jay Shetty interview with Impact Theory came up in rotation as the next video on YouTube. It wasn’t a new interview. Actually the recording was from a while ago. I put it on for background noise while I continued to work but quickly got pulled into the full interview. Seriously, have you seen Jay Shetty talk? How can you not? His eyes alone are memorizing.

I digress… in his interview they were talking about how to live a life you want and not a life projected on to you by family, friends and society. In the interview, Jay Shetty suggested that we live in echo chambers. Meaning, as we live our lives, we meet people who are like us. We are not exposed to people, experiences that are outside of our normal.

At first, I questioned his theory. Then as I thought I about it further, he’s right. I think he is even more right when I think about what my life looks like over 20 weeks into COVID. At first, I thought about dinner parties I’ve been to. The people at the table live a life similar to mine. A homeless man, a monk, an astronaut have never been at the dinner table I was at.

I then thought about my life today. I’m doing some networking, but I’m not meeting a lot of new people. In some ways, COVID has expanded our lives with a more focused online presence and at the same time closed it as I only see and socialize physically with those in my close circle.

In the interview, they suggested that to expand our ideas and thoughts we needed to be open to new experiences and new role models.

You might think this makes no sense… but then you will remember that you are a version of the 5 people you hang out with the most. So if you want to change, you need to hang out with different people. Hmmm… Makes sense.

I don’t think hanging out with different people would happen by accident. Especially today. If we want to expand, to grow, to see a new “what if”… we need to be intentional and create new experiences and opportunities for new role models. Sound familiar? Intentional relationship building…

How can I create new experiences? Get new role models? This question wasn’t asked… so I don’t know what Jay Shetty would recommend. But here are my ideas:

Travel (when we can or just locally): But don’t just stay at the resort or at the tourist attractions. Go exploring, experience the culture, talk to locals, get off the beaten path. My husband is good at this.
Join a club or volunteer: I remember when I joined toastmasters. Suddenly I was meeting people whose lives were very different from mine. People I would never have met otherwise. People who have taught me so much. People who are absolutely amazing.
Learn a new skill: Piano? Karate? Swimming? Calligraphy? Find an online group of those learning the new skill. You never know who you will meet!
Get out there and be open: Talk to someone waiting in line, make an effort to connect with people you pass. At first, I thought this one may not work in today’s world… but as I thought about it, I changed my mind. Standing in line at the grocery store… we all have our heads in our phones. What if we talked to the person in line with us? Maybe with intentional effort, this wouldn’t be as hard as I first thought…

I am sure there are other ways. Maybe even more now than ever as the online world is ours for the taking. For now, I hope this got your brain thinking about how you can create new experiences for yourself.

I’d love to hear your ideas.

“To get something you never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.”
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