Performative BS.

At this point, most of us have seen Ashton Hall's 5.5-hour "morning routine" that had the internet buzzing.

He wakes up at 3:53 a.m., removes his sinus strips and mouth tape, brushes his teeth with bottled water, stretches, journals, watches motivational videos, dunks his head in ice water, rubs banana peels on his face, and exercises — all before most people hit the snooze button.

By 9 a.m., he's already lived a complete day, according to the perfectly edited video that's racked up an insane amount of views.

When I first watched it, I laughed. And then I cringed. Because this is the new internet.

We're almost never seeing anything real anymore. We're an audience scrolling through performances. And the performances are usually complete BS.

The Performance Economy

We're living in what I call the "performance economy", where showing the work has become more valuable than doing the actual work.

We see fitness gurus wake up to attack the day. But we never see the mornings when their kids kept them up all night, or when their spouses need help before 9 a.m.

We see entrepreneur influencers capturing screenshots of six-figure days and big bank account balances. But they don’t share photos of the months when they make nothing. Or when product launches flop.

The masculine lifestyle bro with stoic quotes and cold showers? He's hiding insecurities, therapy sessions, and a doomscrolling habit that’s isolating him from reality.

I know because I've been guilty of some of this stuff myself.

When I first started building my business, I felt the pressure to "perform success" before I had it. To show the good stuff and hide the bloopers. To create content about "how I did it" when I was still figuring it out. Hell, I’m still figuring it out every single day.

These days, I try to talk about the good and the bad. The wins and losses. The times when business is booming (awesome), but also the times when my behavior doesn't line up with what I preach.

Like everyone, I'm still a work in progress.

The Cost of Performance

The problem with performative BS is the emotional tax it puts on people who consume it. We start to mistake performances that are concocted, airbrushed, filtered, and photoshopped — for reality.

We’re made to feel like we're doing something wrong when our own reality doesn't match these curated presentations.

I know entrepreneurs who feel like failures because they can't cross $1M in revenue like other people they see online. Meanwhile, they’re financially stable and providing an incredible life for their families.

I have friends in their forties who believe they aren't good enough because they don't have 8-pack abs and big enough houses. But they’re world-class mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, pillars in their communities.

I look at cool stuff my friends are doing and wonder about my own “enough-ness” all the time. It drives my wife absolutely crazy.

But here's what I've learned, what I know, and what I have to remind myself of all the time:

Behind every massive success story is another story altogether. The hustler who’s burnt out. The fitness influencer in perfect shape who struggles with relationships. The perfect family hanging on by a thread because of addiction or financial pressures.

At the end of everyone’s days, nobody’s life is perfect. And just about everything we see online is a well-constructed narrative.

The Authenticity Advantage

I think most of this performative content will actually work against the content creators in the long run. Because authenticity isn't just morally better — it's a smarter strategy.

When you're real with people about who you are, you don't have to work to be a different version of yourself. And you start to attract people who actually appreciate you, not a character you've created.

I’m watching Tim Perreira share openly about mental health as he walks across the United States to raise awareness. And I followed Nick Gray as he talked about dating and shared his real-time story about taking someone on a blind date to Japan. In both cases, the content is captivating and real. This is the kind of content that builds real followings online.

And at the same time, I've seen influencers (with perfectly edited feeds) start to lose their audiences when they get caught being real, or when the algorithm changes.

See, when you're authentic, you build resilience. And when your audience knows the person behind your brand, they don't bail when you go through something tough or fall on your face. Sometimes they even like you more for it.

The Way Forward

I'm not writing this to suggest you start sharing every difficult moment or private struggle on social media to look relatable. Boundaries are healthy, and most parts of our lives should remain personal (in my opinion).

But I do think we need more honesty about the messy middles — the parts between starting something and making it work. We need fewer fake performances and more conversations about what real life looks and feels like.

With that in mind, here are some things I think about when I create content:

The 90/10 rule: I try my best to share struggles 10% of the time, while spending 90% on what I learn building my life and business.

Reality checks: Before I publish anything, I think, "Is there any context missing that would be helpful for people reading this?"

Value first: I focus on giving genuine value — stuff you can apply to your life and business —rather than just optimizing for engagement.

Because in the end, success isn't about having the perfect morning routine, ideal work schedule, or the most ruthless productivity system.

It's about finding what works for your personality, your values, and your situation.

The Bottom Line

The next time you see someone's perfect morning routine, perfect business strategy, or optimized lifestyle, remember we're in the "performance economy."

Consume it all with a hearty grain of salt.

Take what's useful, leave what isn't, and design your life based on what actually works for you, and not what looks good on someone else's highlight reel.

Because all these performers are really just regular people trying to figure it out like the rest of us.

So, for this week, I ask you to look inward. I want you to think about an area where you might be performing a bit (or a lot). And consider this:

What would happen if you dropped the act, even just a little?

Let's focus on sustainable success > performative success. And let’s challenge ourselves to be honest about what that actually looks like.

And that's all for today.

See you next Saturday.