At the end of the year, I started to not feel like myself and began to fixated on my social media following. By the beginning of January, my creative energy began to dim and I wanted to quit everything all together. These feelings are clear signs. for me, that I needed to step away and take a break.
What was beautiful about this situation was that I recognized the signs and acted accordingly. I didn’t push myself to the point of exhaustion and absolute burnout. This shows huge growth for me because I actually listened to what my mind and body needed. Even before I created this social media presence, put up safeguards in place to ensure I kept myself mentally healthy. Following through with the boundaries I set in place for myself was liberating. I was no longer slave to the “hustle hard” mentality.
Ego check
While in my three week break from social media, I was at constant battle with my ego and pride surrounding my engagement on Facebook and Instagram. I worried that if I didn’t constantly post on either feed that I would not become “successful”. Looking back, I can see that I was playing into my ego and pride. That was a hard realization to accept. In order to stay off social media, I had to delete the applications off my phone. This allowed me the freedom to scroll through my phone without worrying about “accidentally” clicking on The Gram or Facebook. It took me a full week to detox from the automatic feeling of wanting to mindlessly scroll. FOMO was a very real feeling that week but I learned that JOMO was an even better feeling.
JOMO
Have you heard of JOMO? It is a concept to combat the fear of missing out mentality. The “Joy Of Missing Out” mindset is the acceptance of missing an event, situation, or even social media to be present in the moment. I still took photos of things that happened during the day, I didn’t have to pressure to post the photo or worry about creating an engaging caption. I was just present and enjoying the moment. It was freeing and became more natural as the weeks went by. I highly recommend taking a break from social media in order to create more mindfulness in your life. While it wasn’t easy in the beginning, it was absolutely an enjoyable time for me.
Creativity in the absence of comparison
By week two, I felt like my creativity began to return. I was able to reflect on why I began this journey in the first place because let’s be real. Establishing an audience and constant engagement is exhausting. There is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that people don’t see. Numerous posts that took hours to write and then deleting it because it just didn’t feel right. This is a normal occurrence for all who create for consumption. While it would be easier to copy the trendy ways to increase my following, it didn’t feel authentic. Replication is the highest form of flattery and equally as damaging to our uniqueness. I wanted to stay true to who I am. Thankfully after a week without the noise of social media, I was able to create something I am super proud of.
Ebook
An example of my creativity was the completion of something I’ve been wanting to do in a long time – create an Ebook. This Ebook was something I wanted to give you all as a tool to help you create more intentionality in your life. This tool isn’t new by any means. In fact, its been around for a long time. I’ve seen other coaches use this tool and even corporation having their employees complete the exercise. It has helped me by creating a visual representation of my life where I can examine, contemplate how I utilize my time on this planet, and how where I need to lessen my attention.
So without further ado, I would like to give you my first ever Ebook! You can click on the image or click here to download your free copy. I learned about The Wheel of Life exercise in my life coaching course and it has served my clients well in recognizing where to reflect, release, and readjust. I have also created thought provoking questions to help you take actions forward to creating a more impactful life.
If you download the Ebook, can you let me know? I would love your feedback and how it has helped you create more space in your life for what is important to you. I have shared it with those most important to me and they loved it. I hope you do too!
Remember – it is ok to not be ok. Tomorrow is a new day!
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