A few months ago, gyms were packed. Fitness influencers were posting like crazy. Fruit and veggies were flying off the shelves. Lose this. Gain that. Shred. Build. Grind. Move. Be hard. Be soft. Find stillness. Be happy. Be focused. Be grateful.
And most of all: Be accountable. And be different from last year.
Oh yes. It was January. January 2024 to be exact.
Social media was (and still is) flooded with a call to action. A call to arms. Are you sad? Fat? Unfit? Poor? Well I’m not! And you can not be too if you just do x, y and z perfectly.
We were biohacking. We were planning. We were manifesting. We were focusing. We were envisaging 75 days of hardness with trepidation and relish.
And after all that… Most of us probably went right back to something very similar to our old selves. Don’t worry. There’s always next year.
But that pressure to be better, different, more accountable, to hustle; it lives on. And on. And on.
Past January 1st. And 2nd. And 3rd. Into February. And March. And April.
Never before have we been so inundated with ways to be better. Protocols, if you’re a science bro. Routines, if you’re a gym girlie. Perhaps a ‘flow’ for those more spiritually inclined.
‘The ONE accessory you’re NOT DOING to achieve your first muscle up.’ (Lol, for those that know…).
‘Five foods you NEED to be eating for a flat belly.’
‘How to HACK your morning routine and be more productive than ever.’
‘Ask these THREE questions to know if they are THE ONE.’
‘MANIFEST your dream life through passive income NOW.’
Every post is engineered to maintain engagement, to keep your eyeballs glued to your device and keep your scrolling. And as you scroll, dimly aware of the time gurgling down the drain, your need to find that ONE answer becomes greater because the time you’ve invested into social media… Let’s just say its a large investment.
Because it’s true! You don’t have a muscle up. Or a flat belly. You could be more productive and work towards a dreamier life, with a dreamier body, with a dream, securely attached partner (with whom you always communicate clearly, generously and calmly) and a perfectly trained dog, who can use those fancy buttons to tell you they love you.
According to social media, that life will lie at the end of a wellness protocol including ice baths and micro dosing sun light. Or caffeine. Or mushrooms. (Scroll a few more times, it’ll pop up, trust me.) And then… You’ll be happy. Because then, you’ll be well.
Or you might need to start that side hustle. Start a business. Sell a course, or a product, or a licence. Create a 5-9 after your 9-5. Manifest! And then… You’ll be happy. Because then, you’ll be wealthy.
Or perhaps you need to ditch sugar, or red meat, or everything but red meat from your life and become shredded. And then… You’ll be happy. Because then… You’ll be fit.
It would be egregious to suggest that the above does not impact happiness. Of course being healthy, having disposable income and being fit will, in most cases, increase your quality of life, maybe even your happiness. But I don’t believe they are the root of the happiness people seek. And, more to the point, I think the search for them a lot of the time actually engenders MORE unhappiness. I don’t even think they will get people the wellness, fitness or wealth they claim to.
Many of these posts suggest that wellness, fitness, wealth and happiness are the result of these quick, simple fixes. One drill, one food, one course – often they are hidden behind a pay wall or attached to a purchase of some kind. And if nothing else, you are paying with your time and attention.
The truth is that all of those things are fleeting and hard won.
Fitness – even a muscle up – will never come from just one drill. It comes from consistency, hard work and compromise. Progress in one domain can mean sacrifices in another. Injuries happen. Life happens. One day you feel like you could take on the world and the next you’re gasping in the warm up.
Wellness is even harder to pin down! What do our bodies thrive on? Do we need cold exposure, heat exposure or any other form of protocol. Science points us some of the way, but even that is filled with contradictions and hidden agendas… From EVERYONE.
I know for sure I’m not qualified to speak on wealth.
Which brings me to happiness. I don’t think happiness is a state we can find. I think happiness is a moment. A fleeting fraction of a day that is somehow elevated. And I think often that elevation comes because of your perception, rather than the moment itself.
And that’s kind of what I think the issue can be with the social media space. We are being shortened and simplified down to nothing. The complexity, the nuance of life doesn’t fit in sixty seconds, or even really on a screen at all. How can we navigate the complex moments, the long journeys, if we are constantly consuming media that values short, snappy and engaging instant gratification. How do we learn to perceive our own moments of happiness if we’re always peering into the lives of others and their curated, filtered happiness.
There’s no doubt people are searching. And there’s no doubt that there are those there, ready to offer the short simple answers people crave. There’s money to be made. Influence to garner. Content to create.
But I think the answers we really need will lie outside the social media space. Our connection with the world around us, the people in our lives and our own bodies will be better guides for us towards the lives we want.
I feel like I’m entering a new space in my training life, where more attention needs to be paid to mobility, prehab and longevity. And it’s kind of nice to see that not represented as much in socials (maybe my algorithm just hasn’t caught up to me yet!). It gives me the space to listen to my physio and coaches and move forward in a way that is sustainable without being confused our overwhelmed.
So, my protocol is meaningful connection with my people. It is getting out in the world around me, celebrating what my body can do. It is training hard but sustainably. And it is nourish myself with good food, and treaties 🙂
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