Hi guys! Welcome to Episode 594 of the Wildly Successful Lifestyle podcast! Im glad you’re here. Sometimes all it takes is one little message to get your head in the game in a way that moves you forward. I’ve heard or read one sentence before and it changed my mindset right then. I stumbled on a quote from Marcus Aurelius recently where he said “If it’s endurable, endure it, stop complaining”. I had to stop and consider that for a moment and I realized he is so right. Complaining never helps, in fact it makes it worse because now you’re attracting more of the same. But that’s just one quote, I run across them all the time where I think, “you know what, yeah, I needed to hear that”. Anyway, my point is sometimes there may just be one little thing you take from these 10 minute episodes and I’m ok with that. That one thing could change the way you act this week, it could change what you do. So thanks for being here. See, social media isn’t all bad…right? But it’s not all good either. We have to be so careful what we allow in and how we allow it to affect our daily life, our real life. Because social media’s not real. You are, your present environment, the people you surround yourself with, the moments you have. Those are real but sometimes the things we interact with on social media affects how we view our reality. It clouds it. Maybe even skews it. And I hate to say it, but often intentionally so….
And if we’re not careful, it can pull us away from what’s real, what’s true, and what actually matters. I call it “the bait”—those posts, videos, or headlines designed to rile us up, divide us, or make us doubt ourselves. But here’s the thing: we don’t have to bite. We can choose to stay grounded in our own reality,
That’s why we have to be forever cautious and tread carefully and always remind ourselves “not to take the bait”.
Recently, I saw a video that I let get under my skin a bit.
It was someone venting about a group of people in a way that felt harsh, divisive, and honestly, pretty unfair. It was one of those things that could easily make you feel like the world’s falling apart, like everyone’s at odds. Like this race is against this race or these people are evil because they have a different belief. There’s a lot of that on social media….I caught myself thinking about that video a little too much so I put my phone down, but that video still stuck with me, and I caught myself wondering if that’s how people really feel.
Fast forward a few hours, and I’m at my weightlifting class—you guys, classes are just the best for so many reasons, I cant recommend it enough, join a club and get into the classes….anyway, In my class There’s this awesome group of women there, all different backgrounds, all just trying to get a good workout in. Two of them were next to me, cracking jokes about how we’re all struggling to keep up with the instructor’s energy. At some point during class the instructor usually has you team up or work together with your benches so that you can go little deeper in your squat or push a little bit harder, without any thought at all the lady next to me offered me her bench encouraging me to push a little harder, we shared a laugh and high fived and it was such a precious moment to me because I realized that THIS is reality. Not the divisive videos online, the algorithm often pulls from the worst of humanity, the most divisive of humanity in what they call rage bait and too often we fall for it, me included. But that’s NOT my experience in real life. I have had nothing but really great experiences with people that may not look like me outside but our souls seem like they’ve known each other forever. That’s my realty.
That moment reminded that your life is your canvas. The interactions you have, the people you meet, the moments you create—those are what shape your world. Social media? It’s just a highlight reel, and not always a truthful one. I mean, think about it—how many times have you seen something online that made you feel a certain way, only to step into your day and realize it’s not the vibe at all? Maybe it’s a post about how everyone’s stressed and miserable, but then you have a great chat with a coworker that leaves you energized. Or maybe it’s a news story about division, but your neighbor waves you over for a quick catch-up that feels like a warm hug. Whenever I get out and about I am brought back to the reality that life is what you make of it. If I let social media shape how I see people I might avoid those gym classes altogether. I might not wave to my neighbor thinking they probably don’t like me anyway. It’s so important to check in with yourself and ask yourself if how you’re seeing the world is from your true self or from a skewed social media clouded view. I’ve started checking in with myself regularly. If I see a video that seems like it’s trying to pull me into anger and fear, I stop and ask myself “does this match what I’m seeing in my actual life?” 9 out of 10 times it’s not. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been traveling somewhere like Paris or London sort of in shock that I’m not seeing rioting and protestors everywhere because that’s what the news tells you is going on, but I am actually there and I don’t see it anywhere. We just got back from Chicago and we were a bit concerned because of the bad rap it gets but literally we were in awe of how beautiful the city was and how cool the people were. Total transparency, we did see quite a few Ice agents at one point right downtown, which was a bit surreal but it didn’t come with the protestors or masked rioters, so I’m not sure where they were, but you see, when you really think about it, our reality is so much better without the skewed lens of social media, which has also been shown to be kind of addictive. It’s hard to look away when our brains want so badly to take the bait because we are addicted to that dopamine hit.
I read a study recently that said our brains can get hooked on the drama of polarizing content. It’s like a sugar rush: quick hit, then a crash. But when we focus on real-world interactions, our brains light up in different ways, boosting creativity and even our sense of connection. So, when you choose to engage with what’s real, you’re not just dodging negativity—you’re actually wiring yourself for more joy and inspiration.
Think about it, every time you DON’T take the bait, you’re choosing to paint your own picture of the world. And that’s powerful. You get to decide what your reality looks like. For me, it’s the laughter in my weightlifting class, the unexpected interaction at the coffee shop, the quiet moments with my dogs sitting outside in the sunshine. I wonder what that look like for you?
You see, you have the power to choose your reality. The bait will always be there, trying to hook you into someone else’s narrative. But your life? It’s happening right now, in the people you meet, the moments you create, the actions you take. Don’t let the noise shape your reality. You shape it. Show up for your world, the real one, the one right in front of you and see what a difference it makes in your friendships, in your mindset and most importantly your happiness. If this resonated or helped you in even a little way then share it with someone else, you could help them get their week started off with a little mindset reset. I love you guys, I’ll talk to you in a few days!
