Val Kleinhans

Believe it or not, you don’t have to sell your soul be “successful” on social media.

You might be asking, “what does it mean to sell your soul on social media?” To me, it means giving away so much of your personal life online to strangers that you’re no longer living life authentically (as you normally would) or without cameras around.

I’m trying to say take a damn break once in a while!

I learned this one the hard way recently. I was so excited to have friends over for a potluck this weekend. They came over, and we simply talked and ate for hours. That was all we needed. I don’t think a single one of us took a photo or video that night because we just kept it chill and focused on conversing with each other. That, my friends, is worth way more than any follower you could accumulate.

I was so happy that I put my phone down and enjoyed my company instead.

I learned that we don’t have to show every single bit of our life on social media. In fact, most of us only show highlight reels anyway. However, if you’re forcing yourself to show the “highlights” and missing being engaged in the moment, you don’t have those fun movies that you can play for yourself in your mind. You only have the “highlights” from a saved story on Instagram.

Before you hit post next time, ask yourself a few questions:

• Is this piece of content relevant to my audience?
• Does anyone gain anything from me showing or sharing what I’m about to show?
• Will this post hurt someone?
• Am I going to miss an event I want to be engaged in because of this post?
• Am I willing to “miss something going on around me” because of this post?
• Are my friends or family bothered by me using this time to post?

It’s my personal opinion that these questions are good guides as to whether or not the potential post is worth your time. No one should feel chained to an “optimum post time” schedule just because “more eyes will see it.” It hurts me to see friends make sacrifices for that.

Post what you want, when you want.

No need to show the whole world every single second of your day because someone else thinks it’s “more authentic” – there is such a thing as “too much.” You’ll know when you get there.