What Could You Be?
Now you’ve been drawn to this article via the FREE image 😉
I’d love you to stay for the read, on my perspective, on the current climate of INFLUENCE in our lives and how social media effects us.
I HOPE, that, in itself will be enough reward for you.
I promise my points and topics below will ‘have a point’ by the end, so if I can please ask you to read it all, you can decide at the end if I’ve given you Food for Thought, to provoke conversation with others, OR I’ve simply wasted 20 mins of your day you will never get back.
If it does waste your time, I apologise, at least I’m slowly catching up to what alcohol does for you on a regular basis 😉
WHAT.. COULD.. YOU.. BE?
That is my question, to you. I specifically choose the word ‘could’ instead of would, as I believe, could, implies a more positive sense of, ‘you just haven’t reached your potential yet!’
Would implies a slightly more somber notion of, ‘if you’d have maybe chosen a different path’, or a sense of regret.
So remember my question and I’ll ask again at the end.
I started this article after watching a segment on the morning news about social media and the dangers with kids using it, but decided to delete it, as it sounded like a rant. Those who know me, yes, I get over passionate about things, and talk a lot about everything, but only because I’m interested in whatever it usually is and really want to understand how it works and hopefully help people to becoming more in life.
SOCIAL MEDIA :
I believe is simply a tool for the purpose of advertising. Whether it be a company or brand selling their product. Sporting teams advertising games, merch or player info. Or people (and you’ll maybe wonder, what are they advertising?), well they are advertising themselves. Yes, it is also a NEWS outlet for either major or independent reporting, but sometimes we get confused by the news.
IS IT BAD?
I believe it’s good and bad, and our understanding of it is what’s bad. It can be good, if it’s family and friends staying in touch while travelling, also freelance reporting on issues that are important to us, such as health and human wellbeing around the world, and not just what the Kardashians are up to. Then there is the downside. The modern day influence. The addiction to posting half nude photos, ripped bodies, what we ate and the millions of SELFIES (self obsessed photos) posted everyday. I believe this culture is slowly dumbing us down.
WHY?
More people are inclined to mindlessly scroll through 1000’s of images a day, than read anything of importance, relevance or knowledge.
More young girls, who back in my era of only just the late 90’s, early 2000’s, who were too scared to be seen in swimmers by a simple few at the beach, are posting cleavage, bum and underwear shots online to the millions around the world. If you’re a parent, would you know if you youngsters are? If so, how would you react?
INFLUENCE MATTERS :
When you think of what drives us to do what we do each day, most people would say money. “I need money to do this, I need money to be successful”.
There’s also the attention seeking and acknowledgement factors having online profiles create, but let’s just look at money for a second.
My question now, is what MIGHT you be doing, that you’re passionate about, IF, money didn’t exist?
I believe the time I grew up in, and the things I’ve learnt about over time are seemingly disappearing with this current climate of technological advancement.
Don’t get me wrong I LOVE TECHNOLOGY. I use social media, phone apps, tablets, video games etc everyday too! But I believe I’ve learned so much about them, I understand everything comes with limits and should be used in moderation.
HAVING SPORTING IDOLS:
What i meant above, by disappearing, is look at the sporting greats, such as Mohammed Ali, Usain Bolt and Kelly slater for example, all who’ve thrived with the assistance of the media, yes, (or Kelly and Usain adopting a big social media presence), BUT.. ALL of who, would more than likely STILL become the history makers they have, without financial gain or without social media.
WHY?
They love what they do, their DESIRE to become the greatest at THEIR CRAFT was enormous. They idolised those who seemed super human, yet became more super human than they ever dreamed, through passion, dedication and discipline.
I believe though, that the era is ending. We will never (if we stay on this path) have another Ali, Bolt or Slater, but instead, kids dream to become Bloggers, DJ’s or Models (not that there’s anything wrong with these industries) BUT they’re motivated by :
A belief of SUCCESS (based on financial interests).
Motivated by FAME (based on likes & followers on their social media pages and the popularity of celebrities like the kardashians, nicki minaj etc).
Inspired by a depressing, superficial notion of HOTNESS (based on the bombardment of images on social media, Tv, etc).
CURRENT LIFE GOALS:
It is more common these days for a young girl, to instead of pursue greatness in a sport, medical, science or business field, to think if she can just look hot, post selfies, get sponsored, write a blog and earn lots of money, this will define her as successful.
Now, no doubt, she’s right, she may become successful. There are loads of stories like this. But that’s the problem I believe.
It’s so easy to follow this path, millions of girls do it, it brings them loads of attention.. But it still leaves the fact, that instead of leaving a mark on this life for being UNIQUE, making a DIFFERENCE, giving something to the world, that people can be inspired by, for proving anyone can be GREAT regardless of money, popularity or image.. they would still choose this ONLINE LIFE.
Again, it’s not wrong, if they’re successful, to some, that’s all that matters, but, was it their passion, before money, before social media?
I personally have never heard a 9 year old, say “one day, I hope to be a blogger!”
When I heard about an inventor named Nikola Tesla, who apparently was one of the brightest minds in history and said to have invented ways to create FREE energy, plus other amazing things, I was blown away. But, sadly, if you ask 10 people on the street who Tesla is, and who Kim Kardashian is.. the outcome is surely the same everytime.. the sad thing, is there’s more people who’d rather be a celebrity, than someone like Nikola Tesla.
We’ve stopped learning or stopped caring to learn.
We’re drowning in gossip, celebrity, brands and superficiality, that the average adult doesn’t know how or what to do, to be healthy and stay fit anymore.. but the average 2 year old can now open a smartphone and take selfies. Why? The 2 year old is curious to understand.
When it comes to UNDERSTANDING, humans sadly more and more want the answers, but don’t want to learn the how, what, why of the problem. We don’t want to UNDERSTAND, we just want the SOLUTION.
IT ALL comes back to our INFLUENCES. What we do. Who we’re around. What we read. Who or What we learn from.
How SOCIAL MEDIA is affecting this, is becoming more of an issue with understanding our influences.
We follow what we each perceive is important to us.
An example is people’s connection to drinking alcohol. Apparently it’s fun, we loosen up, we socialise with other drinkers. Everyone does it.
We don’t seem to understand though, the consequences, the health issues, the outcome if we continue down this path, but the WHY we really do it?
The biggest issue for most, really, isn’t it making me fat?
QUOTES ARE ONE OF MY INFLUENCES :
I love quotes. In them, I believe are tools or guidance, to starting the understanding process.
One of my favourite quotes :
“The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see.”
by Alexandra K.Trenfor.
The reason I love this one so much, is I myself, am still learning HOW to do this correctly.
As a ‘Fitness Trainer’, I’m always giving people ANSWERS to being healthy, and keeping fit, because I thought I was helping people by cramming information down their throats.
What I AIM to do though, is simply TEACH people METHODS, the TOOLS to let YOU discover health and fitness, as a journey, the same way I started to understand health better, once I decided to become a trainer, to help others.
I learned and continue everyday to learn about FOOD, how it repairs us, fuels us and fights sickness.
How fitness isn’t about smashing hardcore workouts, but more so, simply being ABLE.
Staying flexible, avoiding injury, even how to use a foam roller and why?
I also am inspired hugely by BRUCE LEE.
His quotes are thought provoking. His attitude towards life was inspiring. His passion for everything he did was immense.
Here is a page of some of his quotes : CLICK
For me, if I could be half the influence he was to people, I’d feel successful, even if I earned not a dollar from it.
THE QUICK FIX INFLUENCE :
With the social media influence, what you soon learn about the health industry, is everyone wants the QUICK SOLUTION, and not many care about LEARNING or UNDERSTANDING on how health and fitness works.
Everyone wants to LOOK like the hot girl who’s slim, the buff guy with muscles, or the ripped fitness model, but it comes back to the WHY?
For most, they don’t really know, they just assume it’s what society tells us is the norm, so we must follow.
Everyone’s trying to lose weight, or get a hot, ripped body, but no one is understanding the bad habits, that’s trashing their body in the first place!
It’s nearly comical to understand how some people think if they go on crazy diets or exercise 7 times a day, but continue to guzzle alcohol and eat crap, they’ll get fitter.
There’s also the other extreme, or some of the trends that may appear to work, due to people’s bodies looking fit, but the extreme diets or workout regimes are actually hurting their bodies, more than helping.
WRAPPING UP :
Sex sells, is working more than ever. People care more about how they look, than how they feel.
Social Media is more an influence, a guide, or a reference point than we realise.
More people would follow blindly a Self-Proclaimed Fitness or Yoga Expert, because she looks ‘hot’ in a crop top and mini shorts, than a simple, well dressed, knowledgeable person who’s learnt from experience and from others of experience.
Where the hot girl could be slim simply due to genetics, the health advice may not be backed by much experience.
More people will sign up to fitness programs, and diets, than WANT to understand more about food and looking after your body, simply because the PROGRAMS are done for you, they don’t care how or why they work, they just follow. Even after they may work and they may work, but they’ve ignored the information and they return to bad habits, they realise it’s time to sign up to the program again, but have they actually learnt anything? Here’s where the endless spiral begins..
I’ve seen girls so envious of the hot, fit girl online, I’ve read comments of “I want your life, I hate my life, I wish I had your body”.
Social media SHOULD be a way for people to connect with people around the world discussing, sharing, exploring with each other, to further our knowledge and understanding of the world and people.
NOT for selling our bodies and minds to the highest bidder.
IF your kids are bad with social media, the danger, isn’t the TOOL of social media itself, it’s how the message is interpreted by the individual, and if we better teach our kids :
‘Posting half nude photos isn’t right’ because you don’t need to sell your body to people for attention, as it’s the wrong attention.
‘Having 2000 friends online doesn’t matter’ as your real, close friends who stick by you through happiness and pain, can be counted normally on just one hand.
Or ‘engaging in bullying whether receiving or giving’ can be ignored, by simply disconnecting from these people, or social media itself, and what you do in the real world is all that matters
SO.. MY POINT from this article :
Is social media a BIG influence in your life?
WHAT did you do before you used facebook, twitter, instagram etc?
WHAT were your childhood dreams of becoming, before surviving financially was an issue?
WHO else influences, inspires, motivates you in your life?
WHO are your idols, mentors, guides in life, and for what reasons?
HOW are you being healthy and active, WHAT do you KNOW about health and fitness, and how does it affect YOUR BODY?
WHAT.. COULD.. YOU.. BE?
IF you focused all your energy on yourself, your dreams, your passions, earning a living from doing what you should be doing.
Learning as much as you can, so you can find the answers yourself, so the information becomes you, instead of being told what is right or wrong.
FIND YOUR UNIQUE PURPOSE
The WHY, you do what you do.
Let social media simply be something to use, occasionally, but NOT something that DEFINES YOU!
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