
How To Break-Up With Social Media To Achieve Your Goals
Est. Reading Time: 3 Minutes
Let me set the scene:
It’s 2018, I am living in Cape Town, SA and I am doing a summer season as a male model.
My days consisted of exercising in the sunshine, grabbing healthy smoothies with friends, popping my head into a couple of castings, then hitting the beach.
Pretty awesome right?
Well it was, on the surface. However, there was a sad underlying truth that I didn’t want to admit.
It wasn’t real.
I was doing all these things in part because I enjoyed them, however, the reality was it was giving me great content for the ‘gram.’
I found myself taking way too many pictures, of stuff that was NOT interesting or valuable to anyone (including me). Then I was spending another hour or so figuring out what filter to use, when I should post, what caption would suit it best, or if I could tag anyone else that would maybe share it.
In truth, I was just looking for another opportunity that would give me that ‘oh so precious’ dopamine hit.
Instagram was not only my social media platform of choice, it was also my portfolio, my contact card, my identity, and my LIFE.
It consumed me.
To the point where I had to go through my phone to find pictures of what I did on certain days because I wasn’t actually present in the moment to remember. Not to mention the constant checking of who had liked my post literally minutes after it went live, then subsequently comparing myself to my ‘friends’ who took essentially the same picture but used a different Gandhi quote.
(face palm)
Now, this is all easy to say in hindsight.
At the time however I was blissfully unaware of the damage this app was doing to my mental health.
The turning point actually came when I was back in London. I had recently had some coaching around my direction in life, I was more aware of my focus and where i was spending my energy.
I was on a bus that was being taken around the houses on multiple diversions at rush hour on a Friday afternoon, cursing under my breath that I should have got the tube (Londoners will know what I mean). I decided to check out my never-ending to-do list and crack on while I had the time. However, as my conditioned mind did almost 50 times a day, I thought…”I will just check the ‘gram.”
Yep…you guessed it. 1 hour and 20 mins later I found myself looking up, nearing my stop.
Words can not describe the feeling of utter shame and annoyance I had for myself.
So I did what most people would call sacrilege.
I deleted Instagram.
At first, it was liberating then slightly weird when I opened my phone to try and find it which then led to panic and anxiety…”Oh god, this is going to be harder than I thought.”
One of my lifetime goals was to learn Spanish. I always put it off because I didn’t like my teacher at school and deep down I had a fixed mindset of my capabilities.
I decided to replace the square where Instagram lived for many years with the language learning app ‘Duolinguo’ so at least my conditioned brain would be tricked into doing something useful for a change.
This also kept me accountable. I managed a 500 day streak.
500 days of non-stop Spanish.
The constant checking took a week or so to calm down, once I realised I wasn’t connected, it was a simple case of ‘out of sight out of mind’
This continued for a month, then 2, then 6 and then before I knew it I was approaching 450 days of social detoxing.
Looking back on that time, this is what I learnt:
I am now back on Instagram but with a new perspective. I understand my limits and feel in control of how I use it.
If you are interested in my ‘Heya, I am back’ post then you can find it here:
If you are interested in learning how you could take a digital detox then drop me an email — jack@jackwrevell.com
What app are you spending your free time on? Is using this app making you feel better or worse? Is using it standing in the way of how you experience the world or if you can accomplish your goals? Think about your answers to these questions and prioritize your goals and what you find important.
If you or a loved one is looking for help with dealing with emotions, please do not hesitate to book a consultation.
Life Coach
Hi, I’m Jack Revell. In the last 10 years, I had 2 businesses – Events and Street Food – unfortunately, it didn’t work out simply because I didn’t love them enough to continue. In 2017 I had some coaching, and I found it super helpful for giving me clarity in life.
I’d tell everyone I knew about it, and how fantastic coaching was for me. I noticed that people started to tell me that I should become a coach myself. Now, I help you get REALLY clear on what you REALLY want. Let’s talk.
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2 Comments.
I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
Hi Vreyro, thank you for your comment. Blogging is a great way to journal your thoughts and move through challenges in your life. I look forward to seeing your blog come to the surface! Thanks