Let’s get honest: Our world is now full of highlight reels.

Everywhere you look, it seems like the only way to live life – is to broadcast it for the world to see. Being someone who runs their business fully through social media, I know this feeling all too well. Being in such a position can get a person pretty jaded pretty quick as the majority of people only post about the super-cool-amazing things that are going on in their life.

Smiling families, the perfect Christmas card, a delicious meal on the dinner table at just the right time — but there is so much more to those photos than what you actually see.

It’s true that the person might actually be living that dream; however, I would also be

willing to bet that it’s also true that the end result you are seeing did not happen effortlessly. I’d be willing to bet there was some struggle behind it all that is kept hidden.

And that is where the problem lies.

Why are we so afraid to show the good, the bad, the ugly, and the weird?  Why are we so hesitant to show the entire picture of our successes as a means of REALLY painting a picture of reality and not the picture of a fantasy? What gives? Imperfections don’t seem to be “cool” anymore, when in reality they are the coolest piece of a person or a process because they are the pieces that can offer change to someone else!

I found this skewed reality smack me in the face over the past few months and make me feel, basically, like I was doing something wrong in life! Things weren’t working out for me with my business, my energy was down while all I saw were smiles everywhere else. The world seemed to be excelling whereas I just found myself questioning EVERYTHING that I did, and comparing everything that I did to other people. I literally found myself traveling down the dark hole of trying to BE someone else and in the process (as they say always happens) I lost myself.

A shift started to occur after attending the New Leader Conference in Santa Monica, CA (See “A Golf Cart and A Dream Pt. 2“) Seeing and hearing how each person was different in their business made me realize that things weren’t going my way because I was trying to do them someone else’s way. A training there discussed the benefits of putting your blinders on, and doing you. So I started to do that.

I started to unfollow friends who were making me feel inferior – and let me just say that there was no malice behind that and I KNOW they weren’t making their posts to make me feel like crap – this was all my own insecurities getting out of control. I started to focus on me a little, and sometimes that required taking a step away and just doing what I wanted to do in that moment. I started to count my blessings and focus on those rather than the things that I didn’t have in that moment or that weren’t working. Those things combined created a shift that has put me back on track, and back to where I was meant to be. Now I’m able to re-follow those friends and look at their posts with happiness and love, rather than immediately comparing myself to them. It’s a good thing.

The problem is, this comparison factor can happen anywhere in life. Work, fitness, personal development, relationships, friendships, family, etc. No one is immune from it – especially if it is not recognized when it’s happening. My advice to those of you reading this are to stay true to yourself as much as you can. Put your blinders on! Realize that some days will be easier than others, and some days you are going to feel like total shit – and that it’s all part of the journey. Everything that happens is meant to build you up and make you stronger, but you also need to recognize that and put in the effort when it is happening.

Never give up on yourself. Never stop being yourself – because you are the coolest you there is! Put your blinders on and just do you! #cheeseyclosingargument

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