How Taking Regular Breaks from Social Media 10X's the Quality of My Life
“The more you trust your intuition, the more powerful you become, the stronger you become, and the happier you become.”
INTUITION.
It's that still, small voice that speaks to you when you're quiet enough to listen.
Maybe you're driving, listening to music, walking your dog, taking a bath, or are just in the moment without distraction when all of a sudden: BAM! You have an idea.
Your intuition always knows what's best for you, and it speaks to you in the form of a voice, an idea, or a gut feeling that you can't really explain.... you just KNOW the answer.
That's what happened to me a few days ago.
You see, moving to Canada has been hard AF.
I'm away from my friends. Family. Clients.
We're looking for a new place to move into.
Everything is unstable.
So naturally, I've been feeling LOST. Sad. Lonely.
And when we feel negative feelings, most of us (myself included) have the inclination to numb out from them: with food, social media, TV, alcohol, drugs, sex, etc.
But our intuition is the wise voice that's there to help us recognize our weaknesses, talk some sense into us, and give us insight into the next right steps for us.
Intuition says... "Oh hey, what I'm feeling right now is loneliness, and faking social interaction by numbing myself out on social media all day won't actually make me feel more connected. YOU SHOULD GIVE UP SOCIAL MEDIA for a few days and see what happens."
To which my ego responds in fear... "It doesn't make logical sense: most of my business is online. Social media is my lifeline. Why should I give it up?!?! HOW can I give it up?!?! What will I do with my time?!?! What if I miss out on something?"
But I know from personal experience how POWERFUL it is when we TRUST our intuition, instead of shoving it down & ignoring problems - only to make them worse.
So I listened.
I've decided to take a break from social media (for a few days, weeks or months - who knows), in order to:
- Plug back into the real world
- Ground myself and focus on REAL social connections instead of feeling like I'm connected to people I don't even really know
- Focus on my own creativity vs. comparing myself to others & trying to do what everyone else is doing
- Gain answers and insights about what the next right steps are for my personal life, business, relationships, etc.
I've done 'social media cleanses' a few times before, and every. single. time. I've had an idea that's completely changed the trajectory of my life:
Deciding it was time to leave my full-time job to pursue my own business came from a social media break. Deciding to move to St. Pete to work at Strength Camp came from a social media break. Deciding Mark was the one I wanted to marry came from a social media break.
So if you're feeling anxious, stuck, down, depressed - take a look at your habits.
Where are you spending the most time in your day?
What's distracting you from what you really WANT to be focusing on, but 'don't have time' for?
Whatever it is - social media, TV, food, exercise, anything - maybe it's time to take a break.
I CHALLENGE YOU to take a break from whatever it is that distracts you the most for ONE DAY.
For one day, leave your phone at home or on airplane mode. For one day, read a book instead of watching TV. For one day, choose real social connection instead of reaching for food because you feel lonely.
I PROMISE YOU, it pays off.
Reply to this email and let me know if you accept the challenge.
Who knows what's on the other side of the break? ;)
xoxo
Julie
If you want to learn more about why I decided to give up social media for time being, watch the video on my Facebook page. If you'd rather listen to this while you're working or driving, visit my Podcast page.