Self-Care Success Story!
My friend, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Geoff Barone recently shared some thoughts with his followers after he read one of my blog posts. I was so thrilled by his progress that I asked him if I could share his success with you. I hope you find it helpful and inspiring as you implement your own routine to help you stay focused on your creations.
Here's Geoff's story:
My friend, Lauren Aycock Anderson recently blogged that you should "Resolve To Be Good To Yourself". Starting by GETTING OFF OF YOUR PHONE! In her post, she says instead of rushing to your phone in the morning, go do 10 – 20 minutes of exercise.
So, earlier this month I began an experiment. I didn't check my phone, especially Facebook, for many hours after I woke up. As the days progressed, 1 hour turned into 3, then to 6 and so on. Slowly, the urge to constantly check my phone dissappated. I didn't exercise tho. :P
This "urge" has been called "FoMo", or The Fear Of Missing Out, meaning if you're not on, then you may missing out something important. Always on edge, waiting for that new post or new pic that you can comment on or get a shot of dopamine when someone "likes" your comment, all the while "real life" is happening around you. Real things like your daughter wanting to play toys but you're too busy with your face buried in a screen.
I recognized that I could easily sit on the couch for 30 minutes to an hour, thumbing through my FB feed, getting increasingly annoyed & irritated. So I'd switch over to Instagram or Twitter...only to end up back on FB getting stuck in some weird loop of irritability. Where did that time go? What did I get accomplished? So, to start out my day pissed off, and cluttering my mind up with other peoples BS was not conducive to a happy day for myself, nor should it be for you! That wasted time could've been used for something more productive like writing a new song, cleaning the garage, working on your rock opera...or simply living in the now.
With all this being writ, social media is a necessity for anyone who wants to promote their art or wares, but I think being able to discipline yourself to set aside specific time each day to social media is a nice compromise.
Put down your phone and live your life. Be in the moment. The here. The now. Go and DO SOMETHING.
I love Geoff's note about the necessity of being on social media in order to market yourself, coupled with the understanding that it doesn't require you to be on your phone all day long.
Geoff just released an 80's inspired concept album called "Somewhere in the Near Future." I encourage you check his stuff out - he's a seriously incredible musician and composer.
Do you have a self-care success story you'd like to share?
I'd love to hear all about it! Share it in the comments below or
. And let me know if you want me to share it with my followers.