THE ART OF LIVING AN ALCOHOL-FREE LIFESTYLE
Tip: # 07 Building an IG account is not your life's work
THE ART OF LIVING AN ALCOHOL-FREE LIFESTYLE
A series of one-off tips served with some straight talk, a bit of sass, and a penchant for not taking oneself or life too seriously.
It’s a mood.
Tip # 07: Building an IG account is not your life's work (+ 40 more bitesize tips).
Over the years of sharing my story online, I learned a lot about social media, strangers on the internet, and what it means to have a voice and to share it publicly with thousands of humans.
I have since taken a step back from this arena for many reasons. But mostly and simply because I have outgrown the singular conversation, even though it will stay rooted in me and my world forever. All that said, though, I have found joy again in writing about it here and there. I just don’t find it necessary to bang on about it day in and day out, like I did for many years.
I was 39 when I started The Sober Glow, and for the most part, I knew who I was. I’ve always had a pretty strong baseline of self-confidence, and I wasn’t prone to letting others determine my worthiness. I have a good head on my shoulders, as my mother says. I also have a great relationship with my intuition, so I intuitively knew a lot of this going in, but there were some lessons that I had to learn and relearn over and over before they finally clicked.
I am sharing these bitesize tips in case you may be feeling that your sobriety doesn’t count unless you have the prettiest content with hundreds of thousands of followers. You can be wonderfully happy and content with living your alcohol-free lifestyle without having an online following or starting a business. But in the event that you want to share your story online, here are my tips.
41 Bitesize Tips
Your sobriety can be whatever you want/need it to be.
Not everyone will like your way of being sober. And they will tell you that. Or they will tell everyone who will listen to them other than you.
Just because someone is sober doesn’t mean you need to be best friends with them.
People will like you because of your follower count. It's gross. You will feel this. Trust it.
You do not have to tell the world every single detail about your life to be relevant.
You do not have to share all your pain, anguish, and shame.
You do not have to perform for anyone.
People will be disappointed in you when you cannot provide them with what they were hoping to get from you. Online and in real life. Especially in real life.
If it feels good to share your story, share every part, but do it for you, not for content.
Your self-worth has nothing to do with your social media follower count.
People will put you on a pedestal and then do everything to knock you off of it. It's human nature.
You will trigger the f*ck out of people.
Your words will help people who will never tell you.
Most "trolls" need to be seen. As soon as you engage, they will back down and soften. But not always!
There will be people who expect things from you, and if you somehow don't give them what they want when they want it, they will come for you.
You will receive messages from strangers that will melt your heart and make you believe in goodness in the world.
Share your joy, and never hold back.
Performative vulnerability is never a good idea.
People will love you for no reason, and others will hate you for no reason. Both groups will tell you.
You do not need to be a social media influencer to make a change in the world.
Having twenty close people in your community is worth more gold than 20,000 followers.
You do not need to make a business out of your sobriety.
You do not have to write a book, host a retreat, start a blog, have a podcast, or become a coach to help people.
Growing a social media account is not your "life’s work."
People with a million followers are not better humans.
Do not take social media so seriously. One day you may wake up, and the APP platform is gone. Then what?
Know that if you are polarizing, you may feel a bit awkward when the time comes and you change your views a bit. People are smart, and they will remember.
Don't pigeonhole yourself because when the day comes and you want to talk about something other than sobriety, your "popularity" will plummet.
Your story is your story. Never change it to please a particular audience.
Label yourself the way you want to. Or don't use labels at all. Just because you no longer drink does not mean you are -XYZ.
Clickbait is gross, and you don't have to participate. Plus, people can smell that shit.
If you really want to create a business/brand, don't imitate other people's ideas, words, content, look, energy, or anything. Know who you are. Only you can be you. That's what truly matters.
People will ask you to advertise their work, brand, hobbies, charities, everything. It's ok to say no to absolutely every request.
You do not have to answer every question or respond to every email, DM, or request.
Most people mean well and have good intentions.
If one day you want to unfollow everyone or archive all your content, and start over, do it. Always stay true to yourself. Personally, I did this, and it was the best energetic shift.
Don’t take yourself so seriously that you miss out on all the fun.
Take a social media break if you find yourself doing things only for the gram.
Post, share, and talk about whatever makes you happy and not what you think you should.
You will be misunderstood every damn day. And no amount of explaining will change that.
It's all energy, not strategy.
These are so good, Mia. Thank you. These are like answers to some of the questions I've been pondering in in my own head. I needed this today.