I cant hear myself over the noise of social media
Recently I sent an email to the Change One Woman community about the inner critic. The rules we think we’re supposed to live by and the things we believe about ourselves.
As I wrote, A familiar tug that I've been feeling recently started to pull at me. A muffled voice saying “over here…”
I don't often share the Woo Woo side of me because I believe very strongly in the responsibility of coaches to use evidence based modalities, and in my experience it's much easier to access our intuition and spiritual knowledge when we've cleaned up the stuff we can address with tangible strategies.
But It DOES play a part in all of our lives. And it plays a big role in my own.
Everything important I've ever done is because my intuition led me there.
It's why I left my home country.
Why I stopped fighting for relationships that at the time I was convinced were the ONE.
Why I walked out of my office on a random Tuesday morning, quitting my job on the spot and never looking.
Why I married a man I’d only met twice in person.
Moved countries again with no support, no money and really, no plan.
And why I jumped, full body dive, into coaching in 2011 long before having any real idea what I was doing or why.
Every great decision was guided by whatever the hell is on the other side of this mortal body.
And the tug I keep feeling recently, feels like a big one.
It finally made sense to me last night as I sat and thought about how extraordinary it is that I no longer really hear my inner critic, and when I do I recognize the self judgment and can address and release it.
I started to think about what I hear, what's going on in my mind now if not my inner critic.
And it suddenly hit me.
Everyone's voice.
I'm hearing everyone's voice. All the time. Seeing everyone, everywhere.
Social media has given us an extraordinary window into other people's lives. It's gifted us the chance to connect with, learn from and consume the work of EVERYBODY.
Which is unbelievable. It really is absolutely extraordinary.
Until I realized that I'm hearing everyone's voice but my own.
Like many other coaches and business owners, I spend so much time online. Endlessly hearing the thoughts and perspectives of people whose opinions and work I'm interested in, or am learning from. I’m so busy being on social media, that I’m not busy BEING.
But when you realize that you're spending over 1500 hours on average a year (yes I looked it up on my screen time tracker) on social media… it's no longer a surprise why there feels like there's so much noise.
I’m so tired of endless memes and repeated Sponsored Posts. I’m so tired of conversations with people centering on “this thing I saw on Facebook.” I'm tired of being sold something on every post.
And I am tired of whole interactions with humans being reduced to 10 second videos where it's HOOK EM OR DIE.
There's so much of everyone else's voice, that there's so little space for my own.
If I can't hear my own voice through the noise, or I start shifting the balance of trust to others… my own connection and growth slows down.
And if my growth slows down, so does my ability to help others.
SO I’m going off grid, feral. I’m opting out.
At the end of the week, I will be deleting my social media from my phone and computer. All of it.
I won't be posting to promote my business or sharing pictures of the duck.
I’m out.
Instead, I’m saying yes to phone calls and texts. To long email conversations and Zoom hang outs. To spending time getting to know every single woman in the Change One Woman community as though we lived next door. Yes to seeing my friends in person as much as possible.
I’m saying yes to reading. To writing and journaling.
Yes to tuning into whatever my intuition says is the next right step.
I don't know how long I’m going wild for, but I can promise you that I’ll be a different person when I come back.
And If you want pictures of the duck, better make sure you get on the mailing list and read your emails.
