I have a confession to make: I love watching Ashton Hall daily routine videos. Every time he posts a new “Daily Routine” video, I watch it. I don’t seek them out but the algorithm ensures I cannot escape them. The algorithm on my fake Facebook account has determined, probably with great accuracy, that I like watching extremely fit men dip their face in bottled water, drive fancy cars, and wear fancy clothes.
If you don’t know about Ashton Hall, good; you’re doing better than a lot of folks. Nevertheless, in order to understand what Ashton Hall is trying to tell us through his videos, it’s important to first describe a typical video of his.
The type of video he is most well known for are his “Daily Routine” videos—a minute by minute accounting of everything he does in a day from waking up in the morning until bedtime. The videos show every little mundane/ridiculous thing he does in a day from brushing his teeth, putting on his shoes, getting manicures and yes, dipping his face in a bowl of iced bottled water. The videos typically start with him waking up at 3:00 am. He pours bottles of Saratoga brand spring water into a bowl of ice, and dips his face in it. He brushes his teeth, he rubs his face with a banana peel, he does some sort of vague “studying.” Then by 4:00 am he is doing some kind of intense workout. He comes back to his lavish apartment in Miami where he undertakes a long, exquisite grooming routine to get ready for his daily activity. He gets in and out of Bentleys, Ferraris and Mercedes vehicles, he is followed by an entourage of assistants that bring him clothes and food who are no doubt paid for by brands. By 7:00 pm he’s had dinner in some fancy restaurant in downtown Miami, he “reads” his Bible, and goes to sleep so he can do it all over again the next day.
The first thing one notices about Ashton Hall is that he is visually immaculate. He’s tall, extremely fit, and perfectly groomed. His face and body are symmetrical, he’s muscular, and wears bespoke, perfectly pressed clothes. In short, he’s camera-ready at all times. Ashton Hall, is attempting to, and some would say, has achieved and perfected the paradigm of aesthetic beauty that gets the maximal amount of views in an algorithmic world. Let’s face it: humans like to look at beautiful people. Presumably because of his outlandish daily routine he’s moulded himself into somebody that deserves your attention. The routine he undertakes every day is elaborate, expensive, and unattainable for the average person who doesn’t have boat loads of money and brand deals. But that’s not the point. The point is that he does it everyday—it’s the price he pays to be him.
Is Ashton Hall vain? If there is one thing Ashton Hall cares about, it’s how he looks on camera. Indeed, it takes an enormous amount of vanity to subject oneself to this agonizing lifestyle of filming yourself the way he does and churning out content at the pace he does. But in fairness to Ashton Hall, it also takes a tremendous amount of drive and perseverance to build the brand he has on social media. I know more than most people what it takes to make videos. It involves organizing people with cameras and lights. It takes direction and vision. Editing videos and putting them out requires outsize time and effort, though he no doubt has a team dedicated to that. What you don’t see in his routine is all the work he puts into building his brand. That takes a special kind of hustle that most people lack. What would your life look like if you put even half the effort he does in doing what he does?
One of the most fascinating features of Ashton Hall videos is that he appears to also be a godly man. A man who reads and contemplates the Bible — a devout Christian. In all his daily routine videos, he sets aside time to read and reflect on the Bible. There’s not a lot of talking in his videos, but when he does speak it’s usually him making some generic motivational statement or biblical reference. The religious offerings of Ashton Hall videos are thin, but seem to suggest that his success is not only just a cultivation of outward appearance and physical prowess but also spiritual development and religiosity. His faith is just as important as paddling his muscles with a stick.
So what are we to make of Ashton Hall videos? What is Ashton Hall trying to sell us? Ashton Hall is telling us that it’s not the individual components of the routine that matter. I think he knows that most of us can’t afford the nice clothes, the fancy cars, the entourage, or the subscription to Saratoga water bottles. It’s that having a routine, whatever it may be, is what brings success. He’s telling us that having a routine, something you do every day, followed rigorously is what brings material and spiritual prosperity. Ashton hall’s success is a matter of dedication to a set of actions that improve his life. Every body’s routine is different. What separates the winners and the losers is how dedicated you are to following your routine. Ashton Hall has no off-days.
A lot of people will dismiss Ashton Hall as just another attention-grabbing influencer who seeks fame, money, and power, that he’s just another lifestyle influencer commanding our attention through social media with gimmicks. This is all true. Indeed to command the attention he does in an already crowded environment of lifestyle influencers requires all these things. But the mistake that people make in understanding Ashton Hall is thinking that if you dip your face in spring water, and rub your eyebrows with a banana peel, you too will achieve fame and fortune. The real message is that if you too follow a routine and do it diligently everyday, your routine might one day look like his.
Ashton Hall probably understands that what drives our attention on social media is rage bait. His videos are meant to fill us with jealousy, and with a feeling of moral superiority. We’re meant to watch them and say to ourselves, “I’m not as vain as that guy is.” But Ashton Hall doesn’t care. He’s making money off of your righteous indignation. It’s your outrage at his antics that fund his lavish lifestyle. To understand his message, however recycled and trite it may be, is to also free yourself from the attention his videos demand. Ashton Hall is saying nothing new. It’s how he says it that makes his videos appealing.
Nevertheless, routines matter. What you do every day is who you are. What or who you do your routine for matters. Ashton Hall’s routine is dedicated to the algorithm. Everything he does, all his antics are for the purpose of being maximally attractive to the algorithm that then brings him viewers. Downstream of that are the brand deals, the money, the clothes, and the cars. Ashton Hall has correctly identified that sacrificing time, and effort, and molding his life and physical appearance to the algorithm has paid off. Which is why his appeals to faith feel hollow because a life dedicated to God wouldn’t look like his. No, Ashton Hall believes in the algorithm. All his workouts, his arduous grooming routine, his bible-study, and his dedication and effort has been for the algorithm, not God. It is the algorithm that has blessed him. So long as the camera is trained on him, the algorithm will continue to bless him.
Everyone is devoted to something. Everyone is religious about something whether it’s physical fitness, longevity, or government to name a few. One might not think of themselves as religious or an adherent to any one religion, but everyone makes a sacrifice to one thing or another believing that if they do, they will receive its blessings. However, all of these gods have no real power over us. Work will bless your life so long as you’re not fired or the company you work for doesn’t go under. Physical fitness will bless your life until the day you injure yourself or are immobilized by disease or old-age. Devoting your life to the government will bless you until the day the government collapses. In the case of Ashton Hall, he will continue to be blessed by the algorithm so long as there are computers and AWS data centers to house them all. If you’re going to devote your life to something why not to devote it to something that will outlast everything—something that has no beginning and no end?
All to say, that Ashton Hall, if anything is a vehicle for us to really think about what it is we dedicate our lives too. Ashton Hall is not the great harbinger of religious wisdom, but pondering his videos, however shallow they may be, causes us to reflect on what we do things for.What or who are we devoting our every actions too? What or who has the power to bless us, to forgive us, to sustain us on a daily basis? I will probably keep watching his daily routine videos because they’re entertaining but I will also keep a close watch on what I do things for and continue to question who or what really has power over me.