For me, it's about 1) having a good understanding of social media and 2) then being selective.
For better or worse, runners love Instagram. It's a fantastic place to make real connection and then keep in touch over sharing a run etc - there's no better platform for that stuff imho. It's because it's visual, but let's not dwell on that 🤣
As a journalist, I think I have a good understanding of when something on IG is bluster and when it's genuine. I know when to take a pinch of salt. I know many do not, in which case Seth's advice is much more useful.
Being selective and not getting dragged into ‘doom scrolling’ is definitely important. For too many people the ‘cuddly toy’ in Seth’s analogy is too much of a draw and leads to addiction.
Community is where it is at. I was told by a brand that we didn’t have enough followers for them….it was a blow until I realized that we don’t have followers, we have community.
A space where people know people because of their stories and not a vanity metric.
I value the people in our circle and love chatting with them. There is a measurement of success there that a follower count will never be able to measure.
Fascinating read. The line about 'who are you/what do you do?' being answered with a list of corporate job achievements hits home. Someone recently asked me that question, and I spoke about being a content writer for an employment firm - yawn! They then asked why I hadn't mentioned running, or travel, or podcasting.
The idea of being 'just one person on a planet of billions' is also something I try to remember - coupled with all those billions who came before (I recently visited Stonehenge and was left thinking of the hopes and aspirations of people 4,000 years ago).
There is definitely something freeing about knowing all the things we worry about don't really matter... although remembering that in the moment is the trick I'm still looking to master.
It is not easy. I try to maintain perspective as much as I possibly can and oftentimes it takes the dropping off a plate for me to realize that much of what we are concerned with doesn’t matter.
For me, it's about 1) having a good understanding of social media and 2) then being selective.
For better or worse, runners love Instagram. It's a fantastic place to make real connection and then keep in touch over sharing a run etc - there's no better platform for that stuff imho. It's because it's visual, but let's not dwell on that 🤣
As a journalist, I think I have a good understanding of when something on IG is bluster and when it's genuine. I know when to take a pinch of salt. I know many do not, in which case Seth's advice is much more useful.
Being selective and not getting dragged into ‘doom scrolling’ is definitely important. For too many people the ‘cuddly toy’ in Seth’s analogy is too much of a draw and leads to addiction.
Community is where it is at. I was told by a brand that we didn’t have enough followers for them….it was a blow until I realized that we don’t have followers, we have community.
A space where people know people because of their stories and not a vanity metric.
I value the people in our circle and love chatting with them. There is a measurement of success there that a follower count will never be able to measure.
Thanks Jason, completely agree.
This is the interview I mentioned to you previously.
Thought it might resonate - it just took ages for me to write!!
It resonates without a doubt.
Read this post from Neela. She is one of my favorites to read and engage with.
She talks about being a nobody and it piggybacks on this story.
https://workmanshit.substack.com/p/becoming-a-nobody/comments
Fascinating read. The line about 'who are you/what do you do?' being answered with a list of corporate job achievements hits home. Someone recently asked me that question, and I spoke about being a content writer for an employment firm - yawn! They then asked why I hadn't mentioned running, or travel, or podcasting.
The idea of being 'just one person on a planet of billions' is also something I try to remember - coupled with all those billions who came before (I recently visited Stonehenge and was left thinking of the hopes and aspirations of people 4,000 years ago).
There is definitely something freeing about knowing all the things we worry about don't really matter... although remembering that in the moment is the trick I'm still looking to master.
Thanks for sharing the post.
It is not easy. I try to maintain perspective as much as I possibly can and oftentimes it takes the dropping off a plate for me to realize that much of what we are concerned with doesn’t matter.