HHHMMM A little Harsh?
Sorry, But Think about this for a second.
I’m in the industry that used to be known as ‘The First Impression Maker!
No longer can we hold this auspicious title.
Social media is now your official ‘First Impression Maker’.
SOOOOO…..
What does your social media say about you? I had a conversation with a Networking ‘Friend’ on facebook. She has just posted what I felt was a very authentic view of herself and I commended her candid and balance in her comment.
She had stated that she had noticed her efforts of late had slacked since she had first begun her journey in her efforts, however in observing this she realized how far she had come so quickly in her goals initially and how she was so proud of that fat. She then realized she had strayed off course and had fallen prey to being busy and distracted. After observing this of herself she sat in a state of recognition of her power to alter her current reality as she had before. In realizing her ability to control her reality both in her initial success, followed by temporary distraction and back to balance she had the ability to not just re-attain her previous success but exceed it.
By sharing this story with her friends she showed that she was human, flawed but capable, and very accessible.
Generally when someone asks how we are doing, we say, ‘Good’ ‘Fine’ ‘Great’, many of us are afraid to show that we are human, that badge of honour connected to you have to be ‘Good’ no matter what stressors are in your life, because if anyone sees a chink in your armour its all over the façade it blown! If you aren’t stressed you aren’t successful! Maybe it’s not appropriate when someone asks how is business to say wow it sucks, it’s been slow and staff is hard to come by, but a happy medium might be good? ‘How are you’, ‘I’m doing alright, family is healthy, business has been a bit slow but it fluctuates!’ This is a balance. A realistic snap shot of reality, the good the bad and the neutral, life is neither good or bad, it’s how you perceive your reality. I find it interesting how some pessimists label themselves realists. Somehow these individuals believe that in order to be ‘realistic’ you must be negative or only see the negative side of the situation. Being a Libra I am cursed, and blessed with seeing both sides, IN EVERYTHING! Some people see this as indecisive, but in reality it is just reality. In reality there are two sides to everything. ‘Negative’ and ‘Positive’. In nature there just ‘IS’. And if you mess with it you mess with the balance. Listen I’m with ya, I hate watching the Lion catch the Gazelle on the nature shows, but what happens if there is no Lion? Everything is in a delicate balace. And if you are too far one way or the other, you are out of balance. Balance is crucial In health and when it comes to portraying yourself to others you might want to look at your social media pages for clues.
I often find it interesting how others perceive me. We all have a different view on a situation. Five different people could go watch a movie and each one would have a view of the best and worst part, the parts they remembered or whether or not they would recommend it to others. This is a reflection fo a whole other convo, one you could participate in this Saturday from 2:30-5:30 for our Writing On The Wall workshop. It sheds light on how the brain is impacted at child hood and provides us with a filter we perceive our lives through, until we recognize our ability to alter the filter to become more balanced and less judgmental in our view point on life.
On the flip side what DOES your social media say about you?
Are you using it to vent, bad hair days, broken hearts, and lost causes? How does this negative posting affect your friends and loved ones? Those who love and support you might feel disappointed and hurt that the venting might show others that you don’t have the support and love from family that they do in reality provide, but that you in your perspective don’t see, or perhaps appreciate? This results in ‘Un-Friending’ as many acquaintances might find the negativity too much, loved ones might feel the need to release the ties to protect themselves from the hurt it causes.
Are you posting rainbows and butterflies, or something in the middle. I guess if your social media is a place where people are deriving ‘First Impressions’ from such as future employers, romantic partners and networking contacts I guess this might be an area to look at what 1 dimensional perspective of ourselves we are displaying. You can’t blame someone from being repelled by accessive negative posts, or concerned about inauthentic behaviour. I will admit I’m a little further towards rainbows and butterflies, I guess I feel a need to swing the pendulum a little farther to the light side to offset all the negativity.
I also feel that social media is more of a place for inspiration and motivation.
But hey, that’s just me!
