Taking New Paths

I’m just about a week into my social media hiatus and so far so good! I’m not one of those people who loathes social media, though it is a bit like taking a well-worn path through a hellscape that – for some reason – everyone has decided is “the way we’re going to get from here to there”.

The little dopamine hits when someone ‘likes’ what you posted. The comparison trap of seeing someone else who seems to have it all together and is doing it (whatever it is) far better than you. If you’re a business person, spending time in the app and never being sure if it netted you any dollars for your bottom line. Having other people feel invited to tell you that you suck or you’re doing something wrong. I think if you showed it to an ancient person, they would assume it’s a torture device.

The point of my hiatus is not to escape all of that but to take time to intentionally live differently.

When you hike a trail frequently enough, a wear pattern will set in. It will make it easier to follow the same path in the future, but it will also make you less likely to ever deviate from the path. Because why would you? This one is carved out for you.

Taking a social media hiatus – for me – is like stepping off the beaten path and seeing what the views and experiences are like when I travel a different way.

New Paths In Creative Work

One of the cool things that coincided with the time off social media was the start of a coaching program I’m lucky enough to be taking. It’s for people who have a project, program, or passion that the want to birth into the world. We’re spending the next four months being coached through our mental blocks and supported as we dig in and do the hard work to bring our next creative project into the world. I’m loving it and so grateful to be a part of it.

The best thing I’ve learned so far is that I can do things however I want to do them.

That probably sounds obvious to you, but what most don’t know is that when you’re trying to take your business online, you understandably look to those who seem to “know what they are doing” to help you figure it out. In doing so, you start to adopt rules and “shoulds” about what you should do, what content you should make, how you should market yourself, etc.

They’re all bullshit. But you probably won’t realize that initially because you’re just looking for something, anything, that seems like it might take you forward on your path.

Sidebar: what’s interesting is that those of us out there who’ve earned battle scars as we figured it out, hired the wrong people, hired the right people, tried things, and so on, aren’t the ones new folks tend to ask for wisdom. Those new folks tend to get caught in the webs of people whose whole business model is to take their “method” and cram your business into it…

“Walk this path. See how well-worn it is? Clearly it works because it’s been walked so many times.”

I can speak from experience, 95% of the people out there who make this their business model talk a much bigger game than they can deliver. Just because someone says “this is the way everyone does it” doesn’t mean it’s the way that will work for you.

Anyways, it’s super cool to be in a space where I have realized I can rip things out that don’t suit me and make something new that does.

Fun Paths I’ve Taken Lately