“Staying Informed” Might Be Training You to Feel Powerless
Staying informed can feel like a virtue.
Like you’re awake. Responsible. Doing the right thing.
But if the emotional result is fear, tension, or despair—
you’re not training awareness.
You’re training overwhelm.
If you're someone who cares deeply about what’s happening in the world—
If you track events because you want to be awake, compassionate, and engaged—
But you’re also constantly overwhelmed…
If your system feels heavy, scattered, or braced most days—
It’s not about the news.
It’s about what state you’re training while consuming it.
Let’s explore this.
Not from judgment—
But from the lens of emotional pattern.
Because that’s what determines who you become.
The Identity of “Staying Informed”
For many people, especially those who care deeply,
staying informed becomes a kind of identity.
It feels like the wise thing to do.
The moral thing.
Even a spiritual thing.
Like if you really care about the world…
You have to stay up to date.
You have to know who’s suffering.
You have to bear witness.
And there’s truth in that.
But here’s the real question:
What emotional state are you reinforcing while you’re doing it?
Because that state becomes your baseline.
If being “informed” comes with daily dread, tightness, or reactivity—
then you're practicing vigilance without recovery.
Empathy without clarity.
That’s not alignment.
That’s emotional exhaustion wearing the mask of awareness.
You’re Not Just Consuming the News—You’re Practicing a Pattern
One person I’ve worked with read news from five different sources every morning.
She said it made her feel connected—
but she was tired all the time, constantly irritable, and reactive in her relationships.
Not because of the headlines.
Because her nervous system was locked into a loop of “The world is on fire. I can’t relax.”
Every repetition of that thought…
reinforced the same emotional state.
Until she shifted the frame.
She kept reading—
but trained herself to notice the signal.
What’s happening in my body right now?
What am I practicing with this repetition?
She learned to choose her state while engaging.
And sometimes, that meant stepping back.
Other times, it meant holding center while reading something intense.
It wasn’t about consuming less.
It was about consuming with capacity.
The Problem Isn’t the Input. It’s the Untrained State Behind It.
This is the part most people miss:
It’s not about watching the news or turning it off.
It’s about the state you train before, during, and after consuming it.
Do you check the news with a calm system, steady breath, and clear focus—
or with a clenched jaw, scattered thoughts, and dread already rising?
Because your input doesn’t create your state.
Your training does.
You can stay informed without getting swallowed.
You can engage with suffering without losing your footing.
You can bear witness without reinforcing helplessness as your daily signal.
But only if you train that steadiness on purpose.
Spiritualized Overwhelm Is Still Overwhelm
Let’s talk about the subtle trap:
Righteous despair.
It feels like you’re in alignment.
Like you care more.
Like others are asleep, and you’re awake.
But what’s actually being trained?
Your nervous system stays stuck in grief, fear, or urgency.
Your thoughts spin.
You lose your emotional footing.
And because that intensity feels meaningful—
you assume it’s clarity.
But emotional intensity isn’t clarity.
It’s just emotional intensity.
And if it’s not being directed—
It floods your system and throws you off center.
So ask:
Is this signal I’m living in aligned with who I want to become?
Or just what I’ve gotten good at practicing?
You Can’t Lead from a State You Don’t Train
Most people who consume too much news don’t actually do anything with it.
Not because they’re bad people—
But because they’ve trained themselves into paralysis.
They’ve linked “caring” with feeling bad…
And “awareness” with emotional overwhelm.
That’s not care.
That’s being thrown around by input.
If you want to lead—
You need emotional stability on demand.
Not based on how the world is doing.
Based on what you’ve trained your system to do.
Training Isn’t About Avoiding the World—It’s About Commanding Your State
One client I worked with used to wake up, roll over, and immediately check global updates.
Before her feet even hit the floor, her nervous system was already in a state of bracing.
It wasn’t the headlines that drained her—
It was who she was inside of them.
Now?
She still reads the news.
But she chooses when, how long, and who she is while reading.
Before she opens anything, she practices calm.
Not for long—just sixty seconds.
Not to avoid reality, but to train stability before contact.
Then she reads.
Not just to gather facts.
But to practice presence under pressure.
And afterward?
She resets.
Not to “shake it off”—but to reclaim her signal.
Because she’s not just tracking world events.
She’s training emotional steadiness while doing it.
That’s what we’re really talking about here.
Not what you consume—
But who you are while you consume it.
An Invitation
What emotional state are you practicing every time you “stay informed”?
And does that pattern reflect the future you’re committed to?
If you’re ready to stop managing emotional overload—
and start training a steady, resilient inner state—
It integrates perception, emotion, and nervous system—
so you don’t just understand your patterns…
you actually shift them.
I also share practices weekly on Instagram—@mikewangcoaching.