The last Wellbeing Website post, for now
Over the last few months, several creators I’ve been listening to for years just called it quits. They’re not alone, I’m sure you’ve all seen example of podcast hosts, YouTubers and social media creators putting up a final post where they are announcing they are walking away.
The inevitable burnout from constantly grinding away to meet the demands of the algorithms appears to be behind a lot of this.
You probably won’t be surprised to find out that this is one of those posts. I’ve made the very difficult decision to stop actively working on The Wellbeing Website. It will still be online though, as there’s a lot here to help people.
I thought a post like this would help explain my reasoning and hopefully bring some attention to what’s going wrong with our online world. If you’ve read my work though, you’ll know I don’t want to be negative so I’ll add some thoughts on how this could be turned around.
I also thought it would help to let you know why I started this and what I think went wrong. This alone should certainly be helpful for anyone thinking of dabbling in digital creation.
My hopes
When I started planning this, the road ahead looked promising.
All the talk of web 3.0 sounded amazing. A decentralised web, where with the help of blockchain creators could fairly own their content and get it to people as independently and as unrestricted as possible.
I read so many Medium articles alone full of people’s hopes for the new creator economy.
This seemed perfect for me. In addition to previous online projects, I’d had a lot of success working as a wellbeing trainer, presenting to groups and providing one-on-one coaching. If I could capture the essence of this work in a digital format, I could really help people.
Taking some time after a redundancy, I got straight to work when I realised that the domain was available. I was aware that success wasn’t guaranteed though. I approached the work to ensure everything I was going could be part of something else if needed. The skills, the research and the process. It all taught me so much that’s still with me.
After a couple of months it was ready to release to the world.
The reality
Unfortunately, it didn’t go the way I’d hoped. After a lot of reflection, I think I’ve pinpointed the key issues. I don’t want this to look like I’m reaching into a bag of excuses though. I’m writing this to hopefully help anyone else making these mistakes and showing how you can reframe apparent failure as positively as possible.
AI was a factor. Although it initially appeared to be the faithful friend of the digital creator, it made things very difficult. Search engines changed the way they worked. This made it very difficult for small, personal websites. They want AI bites now and they aren’t looking in that direction. People can also feed the growing demands of algorithms with an endless stream of low quality, inauthentic AI generated content. That’s no good for anyone.
The key to all of this is trust.
While it should be the reason why algorithms are there, the apparent focus on volume and engagement appears to produce the exact opposite of this. Whether we like it or not, we can’t escape the fact that hate, criticism and division are the things that get amplified. When it comes to wellbeing and mental health, the online seas appear to be full of sharks.
I’m sure you can imagine how hard it is to promote a sincere and authentic project in this environment. Particularly when you’ve focused on providing it for free for those who really need it. Quality is so important.
I think it’s safe to say that the hopes for web 3.0 have failed to appear. The established social media giants and digital platforms just appear to have created heavily walled gardens. Everyone is sharecropping. I keep thinking about how Tim Ferriss describes situations like this as ‘having the most successful Starbucks right on the edge of a volcano’.
A change of the algorithm can leave people stranded and in trouble when their audience suddenly disappears.
I’ve left the most signifiant thing for last though. It’s that constant focus on attention. People have been conditioned online to make decisions in a fraction of a second and are served so many tempting alternatives if their attention starts to wander.
What I’m doing doesn’t work that way. It takes time and commitment to build up your own wellbeing toolkit. For me, there are very few shortcuts and I can’t see an alternative.
To sum all of this up, it was impossible to reach ‘escape velocity’.
The decision
If you’ve followed the site, you’ll know I took a break for actively creating at the end of last year. My intention was always to return though. A new job needed my full attention and I thought some time away would help. I’d been working really hard on this for some time.
I planned to really look hard at everything and see if there had been any changes to the digital landscape that would allow me to take a more relaxed approach to the work. I wanted to focus on creating quality content and see genuine results. I’d take a deep dive and make some serious decisions.
While I had to take a little longer than I hoped, I’ve just completed that work. The results are this post.
Two creators come to mind though when I was thinking about the future. One of them is arguable the most successful. Joe Rogan has created one of the most successful podcasts on the planet with some very simple and effective ingredients.
It’s long-form, it’s real and he just chats to people who interest him. It’s also authentic and free of all the shallow, attention grabbing promotion you’d expect from a production like this.
I also think of the academic, Cal Newport. Aside from his successful podcast, Deep Questions (where he warns about the risks of modern technology and social media) he is the author of Slow Productivity. In this book, and his surrounding work, he promotes the value of long-term work on meaningful projects. Removing distractions, avoiding shallow work to meet deadlines and focussing on quality.
This is the approach I would really like to take with future projects.
The road ahead
Everything is still in my head and I keep learning more about the subjects I cover and my craft. Although it’s not the right time now, I’m aware that things can quickly change. I’m sure you’ll understand my lack of interest in the current state of social media. There’s a lot more I can say on this, but it wouldn’t be positive.
I’m confident the big social media and online platforms will need to make changes. I don’t know anyone, including the government, who’s happy with it. There’s a clear gap in the market for an authentic service that serves creators. I honestly think it’s just a matter of time.
Right now though, I’m working on several long-term projects focussed on mental health and wellbeing. I’m fully adopting Cal Newport’s ‘slow productivity’ ethos and focussing on the quality of the work.
I’m also looking at ways to continue writing and creating. I’ll update this post with any developments, so please keep checking back from time to time. Honestly, if anything changes and I can get back to work I will.
For now, I’d like to say thank you for supporting this project. I genuinely hope there will quickly come a time when it can be developed or adapted. It will remain online at least until late 2027 and I will of course post any updates here so again, please keep checking back.
You can also use the links below to see what’s here.
The Wellbeing Website is far more than this. Take a look at the menu to see how I can help you.