Research has highlighted a link between social media influencers and increased negative emotional health.

They found that “an increase in the number of followers was associated with increased negative emotions.”

Why?

It’s because true influence is like farming.

Farming is best done slowly.

Growing mass amounts of crops in a short time produces low-quality and often dangerous results.

The reason is because farming (like influence) begins and ends with soil.

You have to be healthy soil before you can produce healthy fruit.

In farming, nutrient-rich topsoil is a product of ground that has been cultivated by the elements of nature through decomposition and soil regeneration for generations, sometimes for thousands of years. 

In order to keep the ground from becoming infertile, farmers have to rotate their crops and periodically allow the ground to go unplanted for an extended period of time – typically one to five years to be exact.

If the farmer decides to take a short-term approach by planting in the soil repeatedly every season without allowing it to regenerate, the soil loses its nutrients, becomes infertile, and becomes a more inviting environment for pests.

This leads to the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which, as we’re learning more and more, can cause long-term health issues in those who consume produce from these types of farms.

Do you see the correlation to the human heart?

In the same way fast farming produces bad results, striving to gain influence with large amounts of people in a short time produces low-quality impact and often dangerous results for both the “influencer” and the ones being influenced.

Real change takes time. There are no shortcuts.

And building large followings on digital platforms is a dangerous path for the human soul if the soil of the heart isn’t tended to properly.

Despite what the personal growth culture portrays, it’s the quite, slow, simple path that leads to the most abundant fruit.