If you’re an avid social media user, you are probably aware of the “you” you are displaying on social media.
This persona is carefully crafted so that each post evokes specific emotions when seen by others.
We all love to post our highlight reels. We want to feel admired so of course we often post positivity, products we bought, happy feelings, happy experiences, happy forecasts in our lives etc.
Carefully showing this persona can mean you want to prove something to others and to yourself.
You want to prove that your life is fantastic as well, that you are part of the group, that you are part of the trend, that you are cool, that you are adventurous, that you are sexy etc.
A lot of our precious time is dedicated to this persona.
While you may succeed in others to feel a sense of envy and jealousy because of your posting, you want to ask yourself this question:
Why not spend more time and energy into living that life that you’re trying hard to display on social media?
To display any life or persona online is not that hard. It requires time and energy yes, but it isn’t super challenging.
Your result may be satisfactory in terms of how you want others to perceive you, but you are ultimately the one who has to deal with the truth that maybe…well….you’re not feeling all those positive emotions that you’re displaying on social media.
The good news though, is that you can spend your time and effort into empowering yourself to go after that exciting life you post about.
There is a caveat though. You want to first figure out whether:
- That life you are displaying is actually the life you want to live
- That life is a life that others expect you to live
- That life is a life you think others think is impressive by their standards
You want to define for yourself what is a fantastic life. What is success to you? What is happiness to you?
Many people love to define that for you, but you have to do this important task yourself.
That’s why it is vital to detach yourself from all the noise on social media.
Interact with your own internal voice and decide what is a meaningful life to you.
One thing is for sure: you won’t say on your deathbed: thankfully I fooled them into thinking I lived a fulfilled life.