At the Christmas Eve and Christmas masses, the Knight of Columbus will again offer parishioners the gift of a book. For the second year in a row, the gift comes the talented pen of Matthew Kelly. We pray you enjoy reading it, and treasure its message in your heart as you greet the coming year.
The Content Diet by Matthew Kelly ©2026, Published by Blue Sparrow
A reviewer commented “When I finished reading the book, I knew The Content Diet would change my life forever. What I didn’t realize was how profoundly it would change the way I feel about myself. I think I really value myself for the first time in my life.” (p. 2)
The motto of the book is: “Better content, better life.” This guide book called us to review our “inputs” that we might produce better “outputs.” For such a short book, it is a hard read, not because it is complex, but because it challenges us to change what we read, what we listen to, who we follow, essentially who we are and who we will be.
Kelly begins by appealing to our reason. “You cannot live a meaningful life by filling your life with meaningless content…Meaningful content leads to a meaningful life.” (p. 7) He continues “Strip away anything that is trivial, negative, harmful, or unnecessary, and everything left will be meaningful.” (p. 7)
His premise is simple: better content, better life. But exactly what does he mean by our “content diet?” “What is a content diet? A content diet is the total mix of media, messages, thoughts, conversations, information, and ideas that you feed your heart, mind, and soul.” (pp. 8-9) He argues that we consume content mindlessly. “The shift you are about to make from mindless consumption to mindful consumption will require discernment, intention, and discipline.” (p. 10)
He believes content is far from innocuous. “We become the stories we listen to. It doesn’t matter if we get those stories from movies, music, television, newspapers, magazines, politicians, friends, or books — the stories we listen to form our lives.” (p. 16)
Mr. Kelly tells the tale of a pure mountain spring that nourished seven villages. “The water was fresh, clear, and life-giving.” The purity of the water allowed the seven villages to flourish. Eventually and incrementally, the merchants and villagers allowed the water to become impure with additives that fed the desires of the villagers, giving them what they wanted but not what they needed. Finally, the water imperceptibly transformed into poison. “Who poisoned the water?” some asked. One day a stranger offered to trace the water back to its source at the top of the mountain and discover what had polluted the water. Through this allegorical tale Kelly reminds us that “the content you consume flows through every aspect of your life, just like the water, from village to village.” (pp. 24 – 35)
In the end, Kelly concludes that “Some content is better. Some content is worse. Some content elevates. Some content diminishes. And some content degrades the human person and is morally reprehensible.” (p. 35) “The results of our lives, the outcomes and consequences, are all fruit of the content we consume. If you want better results, consume better content.” (p. 38) “Your content is your destiny. It’s time to start choosing your content very intentionally.” (p. 43)
And Kelly ask you to describe the type of life you want, not just the one that habit has created for you. Kelly suggests that “You need a vision for your life.” (p. 44) He notes that “most people move through life without a plan and without clear goals.” (p. 45) In order to determine the appropriate content diet we need, we must ask ourselves some questions. Such as “What do you want? Most of the things people truly want are not shallow at all…most human begins want what is good.” (p. 47)
Following Kelly’s formula for our content diet, “Better content. Better person. Better life.” He asks the question “Is the content you are consuming helping you become that person?” (p. 48) “The culture you live in every day is at odds with the life you want…with the person you want to become.” (p. 48) “The life you want is profoundly countercultural.”
He contends that the “culture we live in every day has nothing to offer.” (p. 49) And then Kelly asks how do we win this personal war against culture, against a culture that seeks to define and subvert us at every turn. His answer is simple: we know what to do, what we should do and yet, we don’t do it. As he observed “There is an enormous void between knowing what to do and doing it.” Christians would define this void as “our sin nature.” In short, you “will have to say no to distraction, no to impulse, no to comfort, and no to everything else that wants to quietly rob you of the life you desire.” (p. 55) Succinctly, “If you don’t learn to deny yourself in small ways each day, you will never become strong enough to claim the greater life you want…For thousands of years, human beings have known that the body is shaped by what we consume and how we move…Eat right and exercise…It’s time we realized that our hearts, minds, and souls are formed by the content we consume.”
Kelly then begins a detailed examination of the myths surrounding the content we consume and the factual effects that media has on us. “You cannot live a meaningful life by filling it with meaningless content.” (p. 62) He targets the news media for some of his most scathing criticism. Kelly argues that “The rise of agenda-driven opinion-based reporting has severely eroded public trust and intensified toxic political polarization in our culture…Objectively reporting “just the facts” requires virtue, integrity, and a type of character is short supply in our culture.” (pp. 62 – 63)
He speaks to our current cultural norms. “Fear of missing out (FOMO) may be the biggest obstacle to a healthy content diet.” (p. 64) “The content we consume has become an increasingly powerful part of our formation. Exposure and repetition lead to normalization. What once shocked you becomes familiar.” (p. 66) He concludes his section on the myths surrounding content by noting that “These myths quietly dictate our content habits, and our habits quietly dictate our lives.” (p. 67)
Then, Matthew Kelly focuses in on the smartphone, possibly the most pernicious device ever, what he terms “The Devil in our Pocket.” Its use, or misuse, constitutes the single most important war we wage today for control of our lives “History is littered with inventions, products, and habits that society welcomed early — only to discover later that the price was far higher than anyone imagined.” (p. 76) Kelly contends that “We have shifted from occasional consumption to being force-fed a constant stream of content… it is time once again to listen to the gentle voice within us. (p. 80, 82) He then proceeds to inventory our content diet…taking inventory of the content we consume [as] an invitation to growth…” (p. 83)
He presents his “Content Inventory” in workbook format. The process he describes allows the reader to assess the actual content consumed by listing and analyzing the most dominant content — the “Top 7.” From the exercises he presents the reader derives a content score, a way of measuring the negative and positive content readers consume. “It is time to leverage content to pursue your hopes and dreams.” (p. 92)
As a key part of his “content inventory” Kelly challenges us to plan our content diet, to select the media we consume over 12 weeks to arrive at the person we desired to become. In short, “the Content Diet Challenge is a personalized 12-week regimen designed to analyze and transform the quality of content you consume.” (p. 112) “We build our lives once choice at a time, on piece of content at a time.” (p. 115)
Kelly concludes his brief book with a series of thought-provoking quotes. I liked several, such as Spinoza’s quote from his work Ethics, “All things excellent are as difficult as they are rare.” (p. 121) Another insightful quote was from the minor prophet Micah, a contemporary of Isaiah: “Live justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8 (p. 124)
Adding efficacious content and removing deleterious content from our diet, and dedicating our lives every week to something good, something positive, something worthwhile — this is the essence of Kelly’s The Content Diet. He quotes Steve Jobs near the end of his short book: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” Hunger for the lord, be a fool for Christ, like Paul. Matthew Kelly’s thought-provoking work challenges us to do better, to do good. Let us pray for the strength to answer his call positively, to listen to the small voice within that is the Holy Spirit.