Content versus Intent

Over the year I've been able to take more control over my life, as I've been able to crawl clear of the swamp that is mortgages and unnecessary wants.

I've changed my morning habits as I've done so. Amongst those things has been when, and how, I process incoming messages and data. I've gone from reading and processing first thing over a cup of tea (but scarcely tasting it) to gradually reducing the amount of data (I left all social media except LinkedIn a while ago) to a stage now where I start the day tasting and enjoying that cup of tea and appreciating the morning for a while before looking at the inbound, and now scan for intent before content. A simple reflection - what does this message intend?

These days, around fifty percent of inbound comes from those in whose interest it is for me to feel deficient. They present "research" in various flavours that identify areas I should pay attention to (which is interesting as other than data they do not know me, or my current areas of inter…