How to LImit Some of the Damage
I took drastic measures this week.
Nothing could be accomplished. Every minute there were distractions.
A beep here. A ding there. Emails, texts, messages, videos, reels, stories, posts.
I had to take a stand. So much time was being lost. Stolen. It was horrible.
I deleted Facebook and Instagram from my phone.
Yep. It was me. Not my kid. I was the problem.
It has been almost a week and I’m still picking up my phone multiple times a day when I really don’t need to. I’m trying not to carry it around when I’m home.
I had to take these drastic measures because I could see my son going down the same path.
I need to be a good example.
His thing is YouTube. He watches some really great content. He loves music and he follows some amazing people who really make him think.
But he gets sucked in and ends up watching the crazy parrot/cute kitten videos. For HOURS.
I sat down with him after I made the decision to remove my “demons” from my phone and told him why I was doing it.
I told him about the dopamine hits our brain gets with these things and how the algorithms the social media companies use are set to get us hooked.
I told him I felt my soul was being sucked out of me and I wanted to do something to change that.
And I challenged him to do it too.
The problem is there is so much good out there! We don’t want to miss it. And there is no problem with watching a cute video of a parrot and kitten playing. It makes us laugh and it feels good. But then the next video comes up. And the next. And the next. And the next…
It takes away our ability to focus on what brings us lasting joy and fulfillment – realizing our genius.
Let me define “realizing” and “genius.” When I use the word realizing I mean making something real. Developing it, sharing it, nurturing it in ourselves and others. Genius is something that everyone has. It is not related to IQ. It is your innate gifts that you are meant to share with the world.
Ultimately, it is up to each individual to make the choice to realize their genius.
As parents, we give our kids opportunities to make those choices.
There are so many choices out there. Good ones. It can be confusing. It helps for us to have a game plan.
I’ve put together something to help – The Genius Game Plan.
It is very straightforward and doesn’t take much time. The teens need to do a few things and these are submitted to me. I go over them before we meet online for a 45-minute coaching call to discuss it and form a game plan for the future.
Do you want to give your teen the opportunity to create a game plan?
I’ve had a couple of adults ask if they could do it too. YES! I’m happy to work with adults as well. We all need a Genius Game Plan!
For more information and to sign up email me at info@realizinggenius.com.