Category Archives: Creativity and Goal Setting

Quitting Facebook for 30 Days

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I’ve decided to quit using Facebook for at least 30 days. In other words, I’m on a Facebook fast.

I had actually started my fast on Monday, March 25th, 2013. …That was over 3 weeks ago already!

I logged in only once that day to announce my Facebook fast and message a few people to let them know to contact me via email or twitter if they wanted to keep in touch during the fast. Then I logged out, and haven’t logged back in to my Facebook account since.

My Facebook usage history has gone up and down in waves. Some days or weeks, I found that I wasn’t spending very much time on the site at all, while other times, I came to realize that I was spending a ridiculous amount of time on the social media networking site… mainly as a source or entertainment, socializing, and as a frequent method of procrastination. More often than not, my Facebook usage has tended to be on the high side.

The main reason I’ve decided to give up Facebook and go on a Facebook fast is to free up energy and attention that I’d otherwise spend on some pretty mundane Facebook updates and interactions. …Seriously, I know you love cats and all (I think they’re cute too), but even so, I don’t need to see and like or share a dozen cat pics a day!  😉

I don’t watch cable TV (it’s an extremely rare occurrence for me), and as such, I rely on the Internet for much of my amusement and entertainment. (Hello Netflix! Although Netflix Canada doesn’t have the same offerings as Netflix US,  it will at times have titles that its US counterpart is missing.) … And Facebook, you could say, is sort of akin to a form of reality entertainment. Big Brother, anyone?  Or Jerry Springer, perhaps? I’m not quite sure what the best analogy would be. It would depend on the quality of one’s friends on Facebook and what they tend to post. In the case of my Facebook feed, it’s probably some kind of hybrid between Oprah, The Food Network, and some kind of animal lovers and parenting network. This certainly isn’t a bad mix, and I appreciate my friends. But too much TV, even if it’s a really good TV, isn’t necessarily a good thing.

After having been off Facebook for over three weeks already, I honestly can’t say I miss it. My life seems to feel simpler because of it, and I see this as a good thing. I’m not a big fan of unnecessary drama, and I’m sure anyone who’s a frequent user of Facebook (or any other social networking site, for that matter) is familiar with the frequent drama that seems to go with the territory. I also have more time to read, write, meditate, exercise, go for walks, watch films, etc.

That said, I do wonder how my friends are doing. Only a few friends have kept in touch outside of Facebook. When you think about it, it’s kind of crazy how much we rely on a 3rd party internet social networking service to stay in touch, instead of good ol’ fashioned email or phone calls.

After the 30 days of my Facebook fast are up, I imagine I’ll log back on to see if I have any private messages, and I’ll likely contact a few people that I’m only able to contact via Facebook due to not having their direct email address on file. But aside from that, I don’t intend to use it every day as I would in the past prior to my Facebook fast. I’m guessing I’ll only check it two or three times a week once the fast is done, or I may even decide to give it up entirely and close my account. We shall see!

The next time I check my Facebook after my fast is over, I’ll be logging on from Berlin, Germany! 😀

 

If you’re a Facebook user, how much time do you tend to spend on Facebook each day? …A week? A month?? Just think of how much time we waste on Facebook a year!

If you find you spend an hour or more on Facebook each day, I’d strongly recommend going on a Facebook fast. It’s possible the quality of your life will dramatically improve as a result.

Hate Your Job? Quit! New Beginnings & A Fresh Start

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How To Quit Your JobAre you in a situation where you feel you could use a fresh start?

Do you feel like your job is just a job, and has no real special meaning or purpose to you other than as a means of generating income?

Join the club. Or, on second thought, don’t. I mean, really — who would willingly want to be a part of such a lame club?

Getting comfortable and staying with a job that doesn’t match your ideals and aspirations is a slippery slope. The longer you stay, the harder it is to leave. You become a slave to your job as you rely on it for your income to pay your rent or mortgage and bills. Whatever your employer wants, you must obey, otherwise you might subsequently lose your income, treats, and pats on the head.

Speak. Shake a paw. Roll over. Play dead.

Good boy slave.

For the past 15 months, I’ve had a “job” of sorts. I’ve been doing contract work, as I wasn’t an official employee — although the working situation was very similar to that of an employer-employee relationship than that of an independent contractor — working as a blog editor and publishing newsletters for Tera Warner (www.terawarner.com), in addition to doing social media on Facebook and Twitter as The Green Smoothie Queen.

Since I was often editing other people’s blog posts, I seldom wanted to go and write and edit articles for my own blog, which explains in part why I’ve been grossly neglecting my own blog. That shouldn’t likely be a problem anymore, however, as less than a week ago I “lost” my “job”.

Why do I use quotes when I use the term “job”? (Not to mention “lost”…?)  Well, because it wasn’t a “normal” job.  Nor was I really an employee, as otherwise, taxes would have been been deducted from my pay and submitted to the government on my behalf, and I would have also received stat holiday pay and vacation pay — those are all benefits/symptoms/side-effects of an employer-employee relationship, which were absent in my working situation.

Either way you look at it or define the nature of my “job”, that still doesn’t explain how I “lost” it.

Well… let me start by stating that one of the requisites I look for in a “job” (i.e. income source) is having a very high degree of freedom, flexibility, authority, and independence. When it comes down to it, ideally, I’d be my own boss.

Knowing that Tera intends to shift her blog strategy to publishing 3-5 blog posts a DAY, 7 days a week, while simultaneously sending out a daily newsletter… it should be pretty evident that I would lose tons of flexibility and authority over my own schedule. And, since that is not something I’m willing to sacrifice, and she now wants someone who has a static schedule of availability, we’ve decided to part ways.

Tera has had nothing but positive glowing feedback for the quality of work I did for her, and I generally enjoyed what I did and took a lot of pride in doing a very good and thorough job, while paying special attention and care to layout, aesthetics, and finer details.

But, to be honest, I did not LOVE my job. I’ve always felt, on some level or another, a continual sense of frustration stemming from the fact that I was not and did not have complete control over my schedule, my rate of pay, strategies being implemented, etc. The fact of the matter remained that I still wasn’t my own boss. I realized I’d always feel this way as long as I allow myself and my income source to rest in the hands of someone else.

During the entire 15 months of working for Tera, I never once took an official vacation. Even while traveling, I’d always get at least some small amount of work done for her. I was even doing blog posts and newsletters while in Paris last year, which certainly put a bit of a damper on my trip.

On one hand, I’m a little sad about the situation of “losing” my “job” — I’ve put a lot of effort into building and maintaining the Green Smoothie Queen community on Facebook and twitter, in addition to upgrading the standard and quality of the newsletters and blog posts at terawarner.com. But on the other, I’m pretty happy about it, as it means I’m now back in charge of my life and my schedule once again. It’s a chance for a fresh start.

Starting on September 1st, I’m going to be taking the term “Fresh Start” to a whole new level.

For the month of September, I’ll be following a raw diet while doing daily hot Bikram style yoga every day for 30 days. Simultaneously, I’ll be decluttering my life and getting rid of (or selling) most of my furniture and worldly possessions as I get ready to move to a new city! (Montreal, here I come!)

Are you happy and totally in love with your job? What does your ideal job look like? What would you do? Are you already doing it? And if so, why not?

Do yourself a favor… if you’re not totally happy with you job, quit — and start working towards doing something that you totally and absolutely LOVE.

You deserve nothing less than having an awesome, happy and inspired life. So if your job drains you and tends to act as a thorn in your side, that’s a clear and evident sign that something’s gotta change… and guess what? You’re gonna have to be the instigator of that change! Otherwise, you’ll just get more of what you’ve already got!

If you’re not in a position to simply up and leave your job today, that’s fine. You can still make a plan and draw out action steps to work towards your goal. Start taking clear actions steps each day (or every few days) that will get you closer and closer to your goal.

I’m going to keep you posted as to my progress on my creative journey, so please feel free to let me know about your journey to freedom, independence and success, too.

Soon, before you know it, momentum will be in your favor and you’ll have no choice but to succeed! 😉