In times of social media and unlimited access to viral knowledge it is very important to be aware about yourself. In the last weeks I recognized some people who I follow on Instagram (@nidellinger is my account if you want to check it out) who have taken a social media fast. The results of their fast were pretty the same.
Kimmy from @sheisinherapron shared her thoughts about her social media pause in her latest YouTube Video. If you don’t know her, she is living in the United States and a proud mom which shares her cleaning routine, home decor ideas, life as a mom and wife on her YouTube channel. She did speak about the fact that she did find out about her addiction to her phone while the fast.
She realized quickly that her smartphone was like something which gives her a kind of value by scrolling down the social media feed. She was a little bit shocked about her behavior, because she checked her phone too many times a day, especially her Instagram account. That is why she felt for example bored, sad or angry. It was like an escape from the reality of her daily life ;O).
While the social media timeout she detected that her hand just was searching for her phone in order to scroll and she wanted to stop that addicted behavior immediately.
The social media time out let her feel how often she checked herself out, her body was there but her mind not present for those she loves. She recognized that her kids did not got the attention she wanted them to offer.
Furthermore she found out that although Pinterest was a great inspiration for her so far, she was even more creative while she explored her own ideas during the social media time-out instead of just copying things and ideas of others.
Actually she found time for things she wanted to do since a long time before. Scrolling through your phone can take five minutes here, 10 minutes there and if you count the amount of time you are online— you will realize you were just busy with your phone!
By staying away from social media she stopped comparing her work to other mompreneurs and realized that her own way feels good. It made her stronger in many different areas. And grateful about what she already achieved and what is gifted to her in her life.
Kimmy’s story inspired me to write this blogpost, because she became aware of herself and her faults. And awareness is so important.
How often do you get distracted by scrolling down on your smartphone?
And did you know that it is really impolite to speak with somebody while taking your visual attention on your phone?
I love the sentence of Simon Sinek:
„When someone asks for your time and you took your phone away to speak to that person, that is real leadership!“
As a mom I am a certain kind of leader too. I take care of my own tribe ;O). And as a entrepreneur there are situations were I have certain deadlines or important tasks to do. It is very easy to get connected with my smartphone. I could allow our kids to watch lots of cartoons instead of playing with them. Then I could properly get more work done.
But it does not feel good, to be busy all day long with a smartphone for me. It feels bad if you think of the consequences of to much social media consume and using smartphones for many hours.
- But I don’t want it easy.
- I want to offer them my best in order to get great results for their personal developement
- I want them to see that they are important.
- I want them to learn winning and loosing in life e.g. by playing boardgames or having a certain challenge
- I want them to explore their skills and their boundaries by running and jumping outside.
- I want them to value those things which we are gifted with
- I want them to believe in themselves.
- I want them to live a life according to their passions & talents
That is not build by social media consume, nor by tv or any other distraction which just seems to be the easiest way as a parent in our society. I was shocked about moms who give ipads to their children in order to fall asleep instead of reading a good-night-story and offering a hug to them. I still cannot understand why mothers hand out smartphones to toddlers in order to get them busy with that technology. And I will never understand moms who prefer to put their children in front of the tv or an ipad to eat their meals instead of sitting together as a family at one table and connect with each other.
Be aware about who you want to be, be aware about your surrounding, about those people who influence you and pay attention to your spouse in a proper way. Awareness is the key to upgrade yourself properly!
Strong relationships are build by awareness:
- If somebody means something to you- take care, listen and be present (full not with a sideview on your phone)
- Be kind to people who could need some kindness because nobody offers it to them
- Respect others even if you dont share their opinion
- Accept differences. Nobody is perfect. It would be very boring if we would be all equal and just running around like robots.
- Offer your help and support others who go through a hard time
- Stop to judge other people. If you cannot offer value or a certain solution for somebody, shut up!
- Don’t pretend something which you are not ready for. If you promise something you need to do that thing. If you can’t – don’t promise something to somebody.
Be aware of yourself.
How would you like to be?
Which value do you want to bring in this world?
How can you realize your „vision“?
Update yourself by visualizing how you want to be seen by others: What should people say about you, if you leave a room? What do you want to be famous for?
A stay-at-home-mom can inspire lots of others moms by her behaviour. It does not depend on your job, who you are. It is the deep inside. Your heart will connect with other people. Being aware of your skills, talents and your passion is very powerful. Once you learned to be aware about who you want to be, it is easier to focus on certain goals.
Today I like you to motivate to take a seat for 5-10 minutes and brainstorm about yourself:
- How do you see yourself right now?
- How would you love to be?
- How do you want to be perceived by others?
You can redesign you ego by awareness! YOU CAN CHANGE TO THE GOOD, if you focus and lead yourself to the point you want to see yourself!