The first full week of 2020 is in the books. Hopefully you have set your goals for the year. And if you haven’t, ask yourself why (and force yourself to answer). There is no right or wrong answer here. Just make sure you like your reason. Check out my posts on how to set goals and stay committed to them for some quick guidance if you need it.
Now, once you have your goals and you’ve committed to stay committed. Yep, you’re going to see it through to the end this time. You have your action plan so you know exactly what you’re going to do each day.
During the time that you’re supposed to be doing that thing each day, you get a notification on your phone. So you look at it. It’s from Facebook. You click on it, respond to a comment, then you go to your timeline. Now another post gets your attention, so you like and comment on that one. And then you start scrolling down your timeline. Now you’ve gone down a Facebook rabbit hole. Before you know it, an hour has passed and you’ve accomplished nothing towards your goal.
Let’s put this in perspective. If one of your goals was to write a book and you wrote for an hour each day (the time that you spent scrolling on FB), you’d have a pretty hefty book at the end of the year. If you worked out for an hour each day, you’d be pretty fit by the end of the year. If you practiced singing or dancing for an hour each day, you’d be a pretty good singer or dancer by the end of the year.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love “the socials” as much as the next person. It gives us that instant gratification when we get those notifications (likes, comments, etc.) whereas the gratification we get from working on our goals is not so instant. So I totally get it. However, what I also know is that the instant gratification from the socials is nowhere near as rewarding or meaningful as the gratification from pursuing your goals in the long run.
So I’m learning to be ok with delayed gratification. I have implemented the “creating before consuming” rule for myself. This means that before I consume what others are doing or saying, I have to create something of value first. For example, before I check (consume) Instagram (my favorite social), I have to create a post, blog, or email that will help someone else and/or move me forward towards my goal. Most times, by the time I’m done creating, I don’t feel like consuming anymore anyway.
There’s nothing wrong with social media. It has some amazing benefits, like keeping in touch with family and friends, providing motivation and inspiration, and marketing your business. However, it’s important to take note of the time you spend on it and make some changes if it takes away from you creating the life you want.
Let this be the year that you put YOU first. If you want to know more about what life coaching is and what I offer, let’s have a quick chat and decide if it’s something for you. Click here to schedule a call.
Gabrielle, The Thought Trainer
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