When I tell you to think of a purple car, you will imagine a purple car in your mind.
When I tell you NOT to think of a purple car, you will imagine a purple car in your mind.
The same applies to the concept of the Law of Attraction.
When you keep telling yourself “I don’t want to drink coca-cola anymore” or “I will stop drinking coca-cola”, the focus is on…exactly: coca-cola.
The word don’t or stop have very little effect when comparing the statement to “I will drink 2 infuser bottles of water and lime 3 times a day”.
Now the focus is shifted to a solution, a replacement activity, a different action.
That’s why it is so important to brainstorm about activities you want to take on.
You want to ask yourself questions like:
- What do I want to pursue?
- What would I like to do instead of using my phone?
- What activities can I replace with certain activities on my phone?
- What would I like to achieve in my life?
- How do I like to carry myself?
- How do I want to identify myself as a person?
- What habits are required to make a successful transformation?
Think in terms of solutions and actions, instead of what NOT to do.
When we talk about spending less time with our phones and social media, we often concentrate on this very desire.
We keep using social media constantly while complaining about it afterward.
It is easy to dismiss a social media session as a relevant or innocent session when you listen to that voice saying “don’t worry, everyone is using social media!”.
When you do catch that voice trying to convince you no change is necessary, you don’t want to merely tell yourself: next time I will not go for my phone so quickly!
Go deeper than that.
It’s a great start that you acknowledge your phone use as extreme.
However, to really get that motivation going, you want to have a vision to focus and cling on.
I’m asking you now:
- Why do you really want to use your phone less?
- Why is it so important to use social media less?
- What are you missing out on in your life?
- How is too much tech use preventing you from growing and improving your life?
- For who are you doing this other than yourself? Your spouse? Your children?
- How do you want to use your smartphone and social media?
Get very real about why it is so important to control your phone use.
With this clarity, you want to create a vision for your life where tech is helping you achieve it.
Together with the answers to the questions mentioned earlier, you want to create a clear picture of the steps you need to take to build a new identity for yourself.
Get pulled by a vision of the future.
Turn your back on your phone instead of looking at it while trying to push it away.
Don’t keep your attention on the phone.
Place your attention on something else, and your phone automatically disappears from your thoughts.
Introduce other digital wellbeing strategies such as placing your phone out of sight and the use of the Do Not Disturb option.
Out of sight out of mind.
That’s the beauty of focusing on something very important in your life: the road you’re traveling on to become better every single day.
When you’re so immersed in your own development and evolution, your phone won’t stand a chance to demand your attention like you’re some cute obedient puppy waiting to take orders.