Published on May 13th, 2013 | by Jason Goldberg

“The Pandora Effect” – Awareness and Action to Find Your Personal Power

Share the Love

Get Exclusive Updates

Hey all you creatives and creators! This is Jason Goldberg and YOU are watching MEometryTV, THE place to be to yearn more, learn more and earn more from your life and business.

For those of you who do not know, I’m a “runner”. I put air quotes around that because it’s not that I am a huge fan of running per se, but its great exercise, helps me get my sweat on and fulfills my intrinsic need to live a healthy life. A good friend of my named Bruce is a runner too and he probably said it best when he recently told me, “I don’t run because I love running, I run because I love food!” In any event, running is also a great way for me to reflect, be creative and develop. Many times I’ll listen to podcasts from thought leaders, get ideas and be mentally refreshed, though physically exhausted, when it’s all over.

Sometimes though, I just want to get pumped up by some super dope tracks and jam out while I’m running. And, for that, I have always turned to Pandora Internet Radio. First of all, I have no connection to Pandora, they are not sponsors of MEometryTV (though I can’t say I would mind if they were) and there are plenty of other music services out there to choose from. I personally use Pandora on my iPhone and if you aren’t familiar with the service, it’s a free app that you can enter in the name of an artist you dig and they play music by that artist and other artists like them.

So for example, I may turn on the Justin Timberlake station (don’t judge me, that boy good!) and be treated to some Robin Thicke or even Michael Jackson. Sometimes though, as much as I love Pandora, they play something craptastic in the mix. I’m jamming like a complete idiot running on the trail and belting out the chorus to pretty young thing and all of a sudden, J-LO starts whining about still being Jenny from the block. This very rarely happens but it brings up a great feature of Pandora. While Pandora is playing, there is ALWAYS a thumbs up and thumbs down sign visible. Let’s talk about how each of those options has really profound implications for our own happiness if we can take note and transfer it over into our offline lives:

1. Gimme the good stuff!: When I press the thumbs up on a song that is playing, it not only tells Pandora to play that song more often, BUT that it really got it right with that choice. Pandora takes note and serves up tunes that are aligned with what it now knows you like. Think about this in your real life. There are things you undoubtedly do that bring you real joy. Maybe its your own personal time reading and developing, making connections with great friends or serving others in your community. Do you have a list of these things that really invigorate and energize you? If you don’t know for sure what pumps you up, how will know when an opportunity comes along that its right for you? Or if you are down in the dumps and not able to easily think of a way to get out of it, wouldn’t it be super beneficial to have a list of things that you know make you truly happy that you can pull out, choose something and almost immediately change your state and your mood? I don’t know about you, but when I keep all of my stuff in my head, I get overwhelmed and its hard to focus or have direction. If you truly take note of the things that would get your thumbs up in the Pandora world, you have the opportunity to have higher highs and to not allow yourself to get into such low lows. Which brings us to the flipside…

2. On to the next one: So I mentioned that sometimes Pandora gets it wrong and starts to instantly kill my endorphin flood of energy and exhilaration. Well not to be outdone by its 180 degree rotated cousin the thumbs up, Pandora also has a thumbs DOWN button. Simple enough right, you press the thumbs down button and the artificial intelligence in the app says, “my bad, won’t play that song again and will try not to play anything like that going forward”. Sounds good to me but that’s not all. As soon as you hit that thumbs down button, Pandora IMMEDIATELY moves you to a new song. Why make you keep listening to the same song if you are sure and you’ve decided that its not what you want. Think about how this pops up in your life. You know something is not making you feel the way you want to feel. Its draining your energy, making you feel fearful, depressed, guilty and like something is seriously off. NOTICING those things is extremely important, but awareness is only the first part. You must TAKE action! The thumbs down button is a great example of what we could be doing here. If you know something is not in line with how you want to feel, your values, your integrity, your happiness, acknowledge that its not right for you and then DO SOMETHING TO CHANGE IT. Hit the thumbs down button and move onto the next thing. It is so empowering to know that whatever the situation, you have the power to control your response to it and IN THAT MOMENT focus on a thumbs up belief, thought or activity instead. I remember hearing this funny little nugget of wisdom. Three frogs are sitting on a lily pad and one decides to jump. How many are left? The answer is 3! Deciding to jump and ACTUALLY jumping are two different things. If you are crowding your lily pad with people or things that fit the thumbs down category, maybe its time to jump, or, at least push them off!

As you know, we yearn, learn and earn exponentially more when we share our gifts with each other. I want to hear from you, so leave a comment below to tell me what types of “thumbs up” moments you have identified and how many thumbs down moments you have taken action against recently. If you loved this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel be sure to share it with your friends. Also, don’t forget to head over to MEometry.com to sign up for exclusive email updates and to get insights that I only share with my most engaged peeps!

Plus, if you want your own personal JG to coach you to be the best and most confident, creative and successful version of yourself that you can be? Click the “work with JG” link above or the pic of me on the right for an absolutely free, one-on-one strategy session over Skype or phone to see if what I got is what you need to get where you desire to go!

Remember that you and your gifts are extraordinary and exceptional. Be You, Do You, and Love You because you know there is only one OF you!

See you next time on MEometryTV

Authentically Yours,

Jason Goldberg

finding happiness

Share the Love

Get Exclusive Updates

About the Author

Jason Goldberg What does an award-winning serial entrepreneur, a network engineer, a former rapper (who opened for the Wu-Tang Clan), and a previously 332lb man have in common? They are all the same guy! “JG” has helped inspire and empower entrepreneurs and small business owners via executive, life and business coaching. He has also worked with the likes of NASA, Wyndham Vacation Ownership and Northrop Grumman.