Hey Legend,

 

Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come from the scariest decisions. 

 

For me, that decision was walking away from social media – not for 30 days like I planned, but for 128 days.

 

This decision was completely counterintuitive. Because I’d used social media as my main platform to build my business.  

 

Steve Jobs once said, 

 

 

It’s been 12 months since I ran this experiment. Now I can sit back and reflect to see how the dots from that decision have connected to get me to this moment. 

 

“When a door closes, a window opens.”  

 

Being off social media created space for new opportunities to find me.

 

A friend and mentor from Toastmasters invited me to an ‘EO’ (Entrepreneurs’ Organization) event in Adelaide.

 

At the EO event, I sat next to another business owner in the real estate space – and we immediately clicked.

 

He invited me to come along as a guest to his BNI chapter (a world-wide business referral organisation). 

 

And as a result of this, he became a friend, a client and I made (another) scary decision to join the largest BNI chapter in Australia. 

 

Being in this room felt electric. 

 

The calibre of people in the room was so high. It helped me elevate my own standards to a new level. 

 

And my commitment to my public speaking craft through Toastmasters prepared me to confidently stand up and speak in front of an audience of 80+ business owners each week. 

 Within the first 7 months of joining, I was invited to take on the role of the ‘Visitor Host Coordinator’ – a huge role for a chapter of this size. And recently, I’ve been invited to become the ‘Treasurer’ for the chapter beginning October the 1st.  

 

It’s been a crash course in leadership, growth, and saying yes before you feel ready! 

 

So, What was the biggest insight I gained from being off social media for 128 days?

 

The power of face to face connection. 

 

Sure, building an online business is great because you have so much leverage and you can reach people worldwide.

 

But, nothing beats being with someone or a group of people face to face. The energy exchange is completely different. Trust can be built much faster. You can build depth quickly. 

 

But much like a pendulum, we can swing too far to the left, or too far to the right. 

 

Being off social media for such a long period made me realise I’d swung too far one way. And it was time to integrate the online/offline worlds again.  

 

But this time, I would be more thoughtful and intentional with how I show up online. 

 

There’s so much noise on social media (and that’s gone to a new level with AI). I don’t want to contribute to the noise pollution. 

 

So instead of posting for likes, or posting because some guru told me I need to post everyday – I now post with a litmus test: 

Will this be valuable a year from now? 

Is what I’m creating a business asset that will continue to serve me and others?  

 

If not, it’s noise. 

 

It’s wild to think how that one scary decision to step off social media for 128 days led me here. It didn’t make sense at the time, but looking back, the dots connected perfectly.

 

Where in your life might it be time to make a scary decision and trust the dots will connect later?