LEAVING SOCIAL MEDIA IS AN OPPORTUNITY

Do I miss opportunities because I’m not on social media? Probably.

But I miss opportunities when I don’t go to the book event on a Tuesday night, or grab lunch at a small establishment after a run.

I’m not at a coffee shop in Brooklyn right now, I didn’t see a band last night in Nashville, I’m not meeting a friend at their office in LA tomorrow. I don’t have billboards, a podcast, a book, or an active YouTube channel.

As Ryan Holiday writes in “The Discipline Required To Create The Life You Want,”

“When an opportunity comes along or I’m faced with a decision, I ask myself: Will this get me closer to that ideal or further away? Will it give me more of the days I actually want to have, or fewer of them?”

All these social media platforms are an opportunity, just like going to a networking event, or being a guest on a podcast. Each has their own risk and reward.

But if we remove the time and energy required for these opportunities (the things we’re told we should do), we’re left with our work.

I got that Ryan Holiday link from Mario Fraioli’s Morning Shakeout newsletter. Mario coaches athletes, has sent a newsletter every week for over 10 years, and posts an occasional podcast.

“I’ve been approached about helping to build out coaching collectives, gotten offers to partner with more brands and events, and been given plenty of unsolicited advice about how to expand my coaching business or make the morning shakeout bigger than just a newsletter and occasional podcast. I say thanks but no thanks to every single one of these inquiries because the tradeoffs just aren’t worth it to me. Bigger isn’t always better, and oftentimes more is just more. I’m not a rich man by any stretch, but I have the discipline to say no, because I know that what I have is enough.”

Saying no to most opportunities is hard, but it leaves you the opportunity to make better work.