What I Learned From My Social Media Sabbatical
Dr. Erin Oksol. "The Success Psychologist" and founder of The Higher Life, is an expert in the psychology of success and helps evolve the human behind the business. She is the best-selling author of the book Mind Your Own Business, a keynote speaker, high-performance mentor, and host of the Oh How Human of Me Podcast on Substack.
I recently took a break from social media. Really, it was a break for my soul. My weary, exhausted, disconnected soul needed a pivot. Here is what I learned, three nudges I noticed and leaned into during my social media sabbatical.
1. We are meant to create exponentially more than we consume
Creators know that creating is the medicine. It is the salve for the wounds of the tricky parts of being human, the sadness, anxiety, stagnation. I was addicted to social media. Hey, I’m a recovered alcoholic, I come by it naturally. But seriously, it was bad and by bad, I mean all-consuming. I knew it. I would go searching for my “hit” first thing in the morning and couldn’t go very long without needing the next. The dopamine, ah, the dopamine. Just like drinking worked until it didn’t, the dopamine hits worked until they didn’t. Guess what happens to us humans when we consume? By definition, it means we step out of creating. One cannot create while consuming. So guess what happened when I stopped creating? I stopped being happy. Guess what happened when I stopped consuming? My happiness found its way back to me.
2. Stillness is pregnant with the possibilities of the cosmos
I know, so dramatic. Let me explain. For 49 years, I resisted meditating. I had a good run. I don’t know why I was so opposed to it. I think I misunderstood it. I think I expected to be sitting there, doing nothing but trying not to think. Or worse, I imagined sitting still and having to listen to myself think. Neither sounded safe or like a good time. Until I realized that meditating wasn’t about the absence of thought. It was about creating stillness so that I could listen, not to my own thoughts, but to the ideas of the divine creator. I learned that the stillness was not as still as I feared. It was actually buzzing with excitement. It was full, not void, of all sorts of epic ideas and visions, imaginations, and new possibilities. The best part? I could actually hear the voice of God. I became excited to get back to my practice, to wait for God’s call and pick it up. To me, meditating is about contemplating and conversing with the divine. Too cool.
3. We want our real life to be bigger than our digital life
You know the saying, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” In my social media addiction, I started to feel like the Velveteen Rabbit, unsure of my realness. When it came to my real life and posting, I noticed myself asking, “If I don’t post it, did it really even happen?” I realized that my obsession with posting my real life actually made me less connected to its reality and, subsequently, its beauty. Think about it, if you have to step away from the moment to capture the moment, it changes the actual moment. I want to live my life way more than I want to document it. I want to experience my life way more than I want to market it. I don’t think we as humans are equipped to metabolize the sheer volume of sensations and information we consume daily. I think much of life is meant to be experienced between ourselves and our higher power.
I wonder how these nudges are landing for you. Have you ever taken a break from social media or taken your soul on a sabbatical?
Dr. Erin Oksol, High Performance Psychologist, Speaker, Author
Dr. Erin Oksol is an expert in the psychology of success and human optimization. She blends science and spirituality to help visionary leaders create a business and life sourced from their truth. She founded The Higher Life, where high performance is informed by and co-created with one's highest self and higher power. Her mission is "to set the captives free", freed from any limitations and freed to live with purpose, peace, and prosperity.
