Let's go down a rabbit hole.
I originally posted this on my Instagram page and turned it into a podcast episode. Now, it is here for you all to read.
Do you remember the days before social media?
Sometimes, I wish we could go back to the time before social media when people had to talk to each other and make genuine connections.
With anything, there are pros and cons, and you have to decide if the good outweighs the bad. Social media has completely taken over people's lives, and sometimes, we forget to take it with a grain of salt. Before social media, everything was not in your face all the time. You did not constantly know what was going on in people's lives. If you were that invested, you had to go out and find out the information you wanted.
Now, we are basing our worth and our businesses' worth on the number of likes or followers we get. I heard something one time, and I wish I could remember where it was from, but it was along the lines of, "Would you prefer 10,000 followers or $10,000?"
I will take the $10,000 because 10,000 followers will not pay your bills unless you are an influencer!
We've been conditioned to think that 10k followers are better because that is what people see. We believe that 10k followers mean a person is doing great in their business or life. We think that having 6,000 likes on your picture is better than 16 likes.
We start to think, "Nobody cares about me," or "Nobody cares about my business," or my "business will never succeed."
Your photo has 16 genuine likes, compared to their photo, which has 6,000 likes, and it was probably staged and taken 10 to 15 times at the right angles and the right lighting.
I heard a story a while ago, and it resonated with me.
I'm not taking any credit for it; I wish I could remember where I heard it because I would love to give them credit.
A lady was at the beach one day when she saw this mom come to the beach with her little girl. They were in matching bathing suits.
The mom set out this pretty scene, put down the beach towel and all the beach toys, and set it down to make it look pretty, and her daughter just kept wanting to play.
And the lady kept telling her, "Oh no, sit still for this," "Oh no, do this," "Oh no, do this." And she kept posing her for pictures, taking all these pictures of the two of them together.
After the lady finishes taking the pictures, she starts talking on the phone; the whole time, her daughter is just saying, "Mommy, play with me."
The lady keeps telling her daughter, "Not right now."
After the lady finishes her phone call, she packs up all her stuff, and she and her daughter leave.
The lady witnessing all this said, "I just imagine this lady going home, posting this on social media, and saying something like a beach day with my girl or something like that."
She continued, "I imagine all the other moms sitting here thinking, oh man, why can't I do this? Why don't I have the time in my day to do this? But it's not real."
I wanted to share that story because it's not real.
The things you see on social media are not always accurate.
And if they are authentic, you don't know how anyone is doing anything.
You don't know how that person got their 10K followers.
You don't know how that person got 20 new clients in the first month of business or how that person made 100K, as they say, in the first month of business.
If they even made 100K in the first month of business. You don't know how anyone can afford to fly to different countries or take vacations every other month.
They may have frequent flower miles.
They may have a buddy pass.
They may have a part-time job at a hotel.
They may be putting it all on a credit card.
You see the post, and you think, "They're doing this," or "Their kids are so well-behaved, their house is so clean."
"I wish my house could be like that." or "I wish my kids were that well-behaved."
Stop wishing. Live your life and do what makes you happy because that person may wish for your life.
You're over here making memories with your kids or doing things with them, and all their kids may have as a memory is mommy staging me for photos.
Or you're over here making genuine connections with your clients and the people you service.
And this other person over here may just be pawning their clients off on other people or too busy to get back with their clients.
So you have to focus on what's real.
Don't compare yourself to someone who looks like they have a picture-perfect life because nobody's life is perfect.
We're all going through something.
Social media has just put the blinders on us.
Let's relieve some of the pressure by not trying to compare ourselves to other people or live our lives like other people. Let's just be ourselves, do what makes us happy, and do what's right.
Remember when people used to help people because they wanted to help them? They did it out of the kindness of their heart.
Not because they wanted to video it, post it on social media, and show how they helped them.
Remember that what we see on social media, whether it's business or personal, is only what the poster wants us to see.
You don't know how many times they had to snap that photo or take that video to get the right one.
You don't know how many times they had to contact a client, how many times they had to start their business over again, or how many times they had to revamp their business to achieve the result that you see today.
People only show you what they want to show you, and you're only seeing the glamorous side of it.
So don't let social media take over your life or spend precious time mulling over or wishing that you had that person's life or that your business was as successful as that person's.
Focus your energy on making your business the best it can be and on ensuring that your clients are well taken care of.
Focus your personal life on being the best version of yourself, on being the best mom or dad, or whatever it is that you can be to your kids.
Focus on you.
Don't let the glitz and glamour of social media consume and control your life.
Check out the full episode here:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/what-if/id1682817925?i=1000625343154