How Deleting Social Media Powered My Content to the Next Level
If you have the self-discipline to kick the habit, it’s totally worth it.
Collect your stones, and prepare your aim, because I still have YouTube.
It’s my job.
However, I have managed to delete Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Whatsapp.
I’m not here to preach about why social media is awful, because I may change my mind in the future- and that is perfectly ok.
I can only speak about where I am now, and how, after being free from the pull of the socials since the end of 2019, a fire was lit under the content creator I became in 2020.
Let me explain…
Mental Autonomy
I identified something truly awful about myself when I had social media.
In real life, I have a close circle of friends who, luckily, aren’t into gossip. It’s freeing to be surrounded by people who want the best for you.
However, I’ll never forget, when reading a not-so-close friend's social media post one day, how I went into a sort of self-gossip.
What I mean by this, is that the thoughts in my mind were not kind, supportive, or encouraging. They were ugly. I was ugly. And, what made it worse is that I could continue in this silent mental abomination for as long as I wanted.
When you say things out loud, even if you gossip, there are consequences. But to have the ability to meditate in silence from a space where you are not feeling good, freaked me out.
The content I present myself with affects me.
If you are presented with images of people living their best life, and you are not ok, well- I think we are all familiar with this feeling. It’s not particularly inspiring.
If I’m not ok and, rather read a book, or go for a walk, it’s amazing how a positive change of state occurs.
But, it’s not only the freedom of not giving myself ammunition to think unkind things that freed me mentally. I honestly struggled being different and feeling like I wasn’t ticking the boxes that everyone else seemed to be thriving at.
I wanted to work for myself, change industries and even start a YouTube channel, at almost 30 years old, where everyone else seems to be a lot younger.
Seeing how people were further on in life, while I felt like I was starting from scratch made me feel a little silly for wanting to create my own life when fitting in was aesthetically appealing.
I knew that many people in my social media feed complained about their jobs and lives, but seeing them post pictures that told a different story- again, didn’t inspire me to want to step into my own.
By removing the temptation to bring out the worst in me, I managed to gain control of my thoughts and actions.
If I want to be social, I do it live. I feel less like an observer and more like an active participant in my social life.
That negative spin of comparison or self-pity was removed.
Honestly, my brain feels like it has had a spring clean.
I choose the content I consume, and usually, it’s educational or entertaining. This leaves me feeling refreshed.
And, because I can’t post life updates, I feel like I am living in a realm where no one is watching.
Creating content and trying out anything I want to on my YouTube Channel feels liberating. It has found an audience and I hope it ticks the entertaining or educational box for them.
Mental autonomy gives me the power to dream, think and plan without the disruption of scrolling.
Getting Stuff Done
We’ve ticked off the mental benefit. But now, I am thrilled to share how much more productive I’ve become.
Deleting WhatsApp has given me an extra two hours in the day- I’m not even joking.
Those WhatsApp groups were giving me anxiety. And, being so easily accessible by anyone who felt the need to communicate was fueling bad procrastination habits.
I’m not playing the victim card here, if there was a championship for endurance voice notes, well, I would have been a serious contender.
The point is, even though my phone was on silent for the majority of the day when I hit a lull in my work- I would check to see if someone contacted me.
It’s like I was waiting for someone to give me something to do so that I could have a logical reason for not being brave in the work I wanted to create.
Now, I have time to be bored.
I can’t for the life of me remember what podcast I was listening to, but someone spoke about the beauty of boredom. By having nothing to do, you end up doing what you really want to do.
This has seen me dream up bigger dreams than I could ever imagine.
I usually ask friends at dinners, that if they could re-do their twenties and take any job, what job would they do and why?
My answer is usually that I wish that I became a rap artist and made music videos. And you know what, I did it.
What is hilarious for me is that I needed to try it, flush it out of my system, reflect, and realize that I’m so happy I never really became a rap artist. I love writing lyrics though… The point is, I did it.
Working for yourself, and starting anything new comes with learning curves that require you to dig to depths and deal with failure in ways that make quitting an attractive alternative.
And, sometimes you should quit. That’s totally acceptable.
Living a life not wondering “what-if” has made my life feel rich. If you offered me $100 000 and a corporate job, or the choice to live my creator life making what I’m making now- I wouldn’t change a thing.
I am happy.
And the best thing is, nobody outside my close social circle knows.
What Are We Trying To Prove?
For me, social media was feeding my ego.
I think I was trying to prove something.
Now, dinosaur life provides me with a world of people who are living boldly and with grit.
People inspire me through articles they have written, through videos they have made, or through art in which they express themselves.
I surround myself with content from those who are ahead of me, and they don’t feel like a competition. I see them as brave and I consume what they have to say, always with the mindset of being open to learning something, even if they are far younger than me.
What I post on YouTube is the authentic version of me. I have a rule that I never record if I am not genuinely expressing myself.
I’ll never forget when I had Instagram and I was irritated with my husband but felt I needed to take a picture to post. Now, if I’m irritated, I wait until I am not, and then I record.
Note: I can be plenty irritating too. My husband is amazing!
Back to the point…
I feel as if the community I have formed on YouTube has got to know me for where I am at this stage of life. Social media saw opinions from people who knew me at a different time, expecting me to stay the same forever.
You could argue that I’m not leveraging the reach I could by not spreading myself through all the social media channels. Fair.
But like I mentioned earlier, finding your space takes failure, trying new things, and a lot of practice. This requires focus. I chose a platform that I enjoy, doing something that comes naturally to me.
If I’m going to try to resize and replicate my content everywhere, I’ll never get sleep. I’ll also have social media feeds full of content that triggers the worst in me. I’m a one-woman show and I need to protect the only asset I control- myself.
If I’m missing out, then I am truly happy for those who are gaining what I’m not.
A friend told me that, “Gratitude is seeing what you have as enough.”
I’m grateful for what I have.
Final Thought
We are allowed to change, to grow, and to play.
Not needing to justify who I am at a point in time, to an audience who doesn’t get it, has catapulted me in a direction where I have realized dreams I didn’t even know I could dream.
We’re all capable to step into the best version of ourselves, we just need to highlight what obstacles are in the way.
For me, the obstacle was social media.
I don’t think social media is evil. I may even reactive my accounts in the future.
I mean, I will eventually get a puppy, and it may identify as an influencer resulting in me changing professions to a Social Media Momager. But, I’ll cross that bridge when I get there…
Ultimately, my heart was to share a bite-sized version of my story, and if you could relate, or if you are inspired to have a detox, then I wish you all of the best.
May you find the freedom you need, to create the content that levels up your life to height farther than your dreams.
You can do it :)
