375: Protecting Your Peace as an Influencer

[00:00:00] Hi friends. I hope that you have enjoyed the last couple months of our episodes here. It was so much fun for me to do two series back to back on growing your audience and on monetizing. Um, it's got me really excited to think about. More series to do in the future. And I also like reflecting back on it.

[00:00:24] I think it's such a good way for us to, like, it was so easy for me to plan my content for two months, and so if you're feeling a little stuck, this is not what this episode's about, but I just kind of wanted to share a little bit of my findings or feelings about those episodes. If you're feeling a little stuck or like, oh my gosh, I just feel like I'm in this constant grind of content creation.

[00:00:50] I really want you to explore a series. It took so much of the guesswork out of what I was going to talk about, what kind of content we were going to create, and it helped me just not overthink it and just stay in that creative flow, and I really, really loved it. Now, that's not to say I'm not excited about this episode and future ones that I have planned, but it does have me itching to brainstorm like, okay, what could another series look like that would be really beneficial for you guys listening.

[00:01:22] So I. That is what I just wanted to share with you, and I do think that goes into this week's episode, which is talking about protecting your piece and sometimes protecting your piece is reducing some of that mental workload, and that's where I think a series can be really helpful. What I wanna talk to you guys about specifically today is protecting your peace, especially when it comes to social media.

[00:01:51] We have the. I'm gonna call it unique position of being at the forefront of everything that happens in the world and I this, this can be. A blessing and a curse. As you know, we can be at the forefront of celebrating huge milestones and wonderful things and accomplishments that happen in other people's lives, in businesses, in tech technology, and in advancements and culture.

[00:02:27] And it can be a wonderful, exciting thing. And it can also be a very, very challenging thing when. Terrifying things happen and they're right in front of our face. And I don't have to tell you that this isn't great for our mental health, you already know that. But given our jobs, what do we do to protect our peace and still have fulfilling careers?

[00:02:52] So that's what I wanna talk to you guys about today. So I wanna talk first about some boundaries. We're also gonna talk about things that we can do to help our mental health. Things to think about when it comes to any type of activism, and I feel like anytime we speak up, it is a form of activism and.

[00:03:18] What should we do? What should we say? What should we not say? When do we speak up? All of that. So that's what we're gonna chat about in this episode. Welcome to the Thrive Podcast, where we believe creators deserve more, more money, more freedom, and even more love for what they do. I'm Bree p, your coach for content creators.

[00:03:40] And I know the struggle. The long hours, the endless ideas, the feeling that success is just out of reach. But here's the truth. You've got what it takes in this podcast. It's your shortcut to getting there from strategies that actually work to behind the scenes insights. We are unlocking your potential one episode at a time.

[00:04:02] So if you're ready to turn your creative hustle into a thriving business. Let's get started.

[00:04:10] So the first thing is, first is I want to make sure that you are safe, and I also want to make sure that your business is protected. And I'm not necessarily talking about like what to say and what not to say in this portion. I'm more so talking about your mental health. And making sure that we put things in place so that way you are able to do this long term and don't be so overwhelmed and consumed by what is happening that you can't have this career anymore because I have seen that happen with people.

[00:04:51] So the way that we can take a little bit of control is figuring out what our boundaries are. So the first thing I suggest is leave your phone at work. Now, if you literally do everything on your phone and you only have one phone, you don't have a quote unquote work phone, um, you can't just leave it in the corner somewhere, right?

[00:05:16] You still need to use it for your everyday life. But what this could look like is moving all of your work apps to a folder and locking it. Setting those timers, setting those boundaries, hiding the folder, whatever you need to do, move all of your email, your social media, um, any work apps that you use, that you have on your phone, ev even if it's like a photo editor, move it to a folder, and that is a folder that you do not open it unless it is during set hours.

[00:05:53] That is the third point. You need to set hours. When am I working and it may not be a traditional nine to five. You may have a traditional nine to five. It may be that you're able to work during certain hours in the morning or certain hours in the evening, even if it's the weekend. I don't, it doesn't have to be what it looks like for the person next to you.

[00:06:16] It has to work for you. If you don't set hours, we all know how easy it is for it to eek into every single aspect of our life. So set hours for when you are working, and then what I encourage you to do is to share your boundaries with someone close to you. Maybe it's a spouse, maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a relative, somebody that you're close to and ask them to help hold you to it.

[00:06:45] Hold me to. All right. I am not going to be on my work apps at these hours of the day. I am only going to be on them during my work hours. That is going to you. You have to set boundaries with this because the industry that we are in, it is very easy for it to become a 24 7 job, even if you are not.

[00:07:12] Actively creating content or actively doing something. It's easy to scroll without thinking about it, to open the apps without even thinking about it. I recently deleted some apps on my phone and I was finding myself the last couple of days instinctively picking up my phone and trying to find the app, and I was like, wait, where is it?

[00:07:33] Um, it's, it's. It's been very eye-opening to see just how addictive it is without me even thinking about it. And so by setting some of these boundaries and then also, you know, sharing it with somebody so somebody else can help hold you accountable is going to be a game changer, you know. I like to think of like, alright, sometimes it's like, okay, I don't wanna get out all of the supplies to do this, or I don't wanna start doing this and so I'm just gonna sit and relax for a little bit and then an hour goes by of me scrolling and I'm like, okay.

[00:08:12] I could have spent an hour doing this other project. I could have been painting or I could have been working on my cardigan that I'm crocheting or whatever it may be. I could have been outside gardening. Um, even if it's only 30 minutes, it's like, why do we think. There's all these things that prohibit us from doing these tasks and, and maybe there are, maybe it is easier, but I'm like, well, I would rather grab my Kindle and spend 30 minutes reading or 20 minutes reading than doom scrolling.

[00:08:42] And so it's all about setting those boundaries. And I know, and I'm talking about this for so long, because I know it's hard, like our job is literally online. That is why we have to be ruthless with setting these boundaries. So now, you know, let's talk about like, okay, mental peace. What does that look like?

[00:09:03] Um, and just like working out. And eating healthy. We also have to make sure that we are doing things to keep our brain healthy, right? So we, it's very easy for us to think, all right, okay, I have to keep my body physically healthy. It's, you know, I need to get my steps in. I need to go for a little walk. Oh, I need to kind of start adding in some more vegetables.

[00:09:27] My vegetable quality has been lacking lately. You know, I need to start eating a better breakfast, um, because I need to stay healthy, right? But it is very easy for us to just completely ignore keeping our brain and our mental health healthy. We don't really classify them as being equal, and I. I strongly believe that they are.

[00:09:53] I have been on a health journey. I probably talked about it a little bit here on the podcast, but I've been on my own health journey for the last, um, little over a year, and I've hit a little bit of a plateau and I know that it has nothing to do with my. Eating habits or my activity level, and I know that it 100% has to do with my stress.

[00:10:18] Um, there's been a lot going on lately, right? And I know that I'm hit that plateau because of that. And so I think that's also another reason why this is just so, I, you know, you guys know I'm very passionate about mental health, but it's, it's truly because it is something that is overlooked or dismissed or said We have a mental health.

[00:10:37] Issue, and then we don't do anything about it, right? Or, yeah, I, I've got some anxiety, but I, I'm just gonna push through, right? Or Yeah, I'm struggling, I'm stressed, but we just push through, right? It's always just pushing through because we're busy, we're freaking busy. You have a million things that you're juggling, and so, but what happens when we don't?

[00:10:59] Protect ourselves, and then we pile on with work and with life and with doom scrolling, it can get, you know, it can get pretty rough, right? So some things that you guys know I recommend, but I'm gonna keep talking about them. Um, that work for me. Journaling, meditation, and really, I think the biggest thing is allowing yourself to process things instead of just rushing to the next thing and saying, you know, oh, I'm too, I'm too busy.

[00:11:28] Like, I, I gotta just keep going. And again, like journaling, meditation. Processing. Just sitting and thinking doesn't have to be an hour long session. It can literally be 10 minutes, and I think that's where I get a little bit stuck is I'm like, okay, I wanna start getting up in the morning and journaling again.

[00:11:48] But I think, oh, I've gotta get up and it's gotta be an hour long session. If my daughter wakes up, then the whole, you know, session is ruined or whatever, and it's, you know, truly 10 minutes would make a big difference. And so, kind of rewiring our brains and rethinking through, all right, it doesn't have to be this huge amount of time.

[00:12:07] It can literally be 10 minutes. And then if you are struggling talking to a professional, and if you don't have the support in your life to do that. I know there is the financial aspect of it as well, but if you feel like you are in a place financially to invest, but you don't have the support from friends or family, I, I may not know you, but if you pop in my dms on Instagram and tell me, Hey, I need a buddy, or I just need to tell somebody that I'm going to do it, that will be supportive.

[00:12:40] I've needed that in my life and I'm very fortunate that I now have people in my life that are very supportive of it. Um, I've gone to therapy for multiple years and it has helped me tremendously. And the thing with therapy is that you don't need to be in a dark, scary place. To reach out to therapy. In fact, when I started going to therapy, it was because I didn't want to get to that place.

[00:13:08] I wanted to. I, I recognized that like, okay, I am not living my best life right now. I am, you know, there are things that I'm struggling with. I'm fine. I know that like if I just keep pushing through and keep like just being fine, eventually something is going to just like knock me out and just be really, really, really hard and put me in a bad place, and so I would rather get ahead of it.

[00:13:32] So. There. You know, there's so many stigmas around it, and I just wish that I could erase all of those because I think everybody should go to therapy. I think there we could all improve our mental health just the same way. Like I said, as you know, working out and needing healthy. The other way to kind of help your mental piece is having peers or a mastermind to discuss things with.

[00:13:55] And just, you know, with all of this is not trying to do it all alone because it is so incredibly hard to do it all alone and just to be in your head 24 7 and. Not have other people to, you know, under that understand and that are doing this with you. Um, and I think, you know, especially as influencers, as content creators, you need to be surrounded by others that get it right.

[00:14:22] Like our friends and family don't always get it. They're like, oh, it's just social media, it's fine. Like, yeah, it's crazy. Just, you know, ignore it or whatever. Right? Like. They don't get it like bottom line. I don't need to explain it to you. Um, and that's why we've always made sure that we've had community aspects here at Thrive.

[00:14:38] So there is the free group over on Facebook that will link in the show notes for you guys. And then there's a paid community called Bold Fluence. And so there's different options for you based on where you're at and you know what you need. But I just really recommend like, you know, you just need to surround yourself with people that understand it.

[00:14:57] So now let's talk about. I feel like this is a little bit of a heavy, um, podcast, but I really hope it's helping. When do we speak up on things that are important to us? Right? It's, it seems like there is a new headline every single day. Every single week for sure. Um, and, you know, which is leading to a lot of this exhaustion and leading to me talking about this, yet again, this isn't the first time I've talked about this on the podcast.

[00:15:29] So when do we speak up? What do we say? And, uh, my stance is that there is no right answer. I think it is an entirely personal, and, and sometimes, like, sometimes I can be like, just tell me what to do. Um, and I know there's gonna be other people that disagree with me and that will say, no, you have, you have to speak up.

[00:15:50] You have the more this obligation by having this platform. I will say you have options and each option will come with its own set of challenges. You're going to have to choose your hard, whether you speak up or whether you don't. There are going to be challenges that come with both so. I was speaking with one client recently and she is someone that doesn't say anything and doesn't say anything ever and never has with her brand.

[00:16:20] And you know, we talk whenever, you know, certain things come up. And I, you know, it, the other day when we were speaking I was like, you know, your're kind, your brand is kind of like a, you know, you think of these big brand names like an HGTV or the um, the Food Network, right? These different ones, and. They, they're, they're this brand, right?

[00:16:43] They don't speak up about the headlines that happen every single day. And so you can take that stance of thinking yourself, of yourself as this brand. You can take the stance of sharing your opinion when hot topics arise, which you know, let's be real. It's weekly. You have to decide what you are comfortable sharing and what you're not.

[00:17:05] To like, when do I need, like I am just like feeling like I have to say something. It is also knowing that when you do, you are taking a side and that you will be called out on other topics you haven't spoken on. Right? So if you speak about something that just happened yesterday, but you didn't speak about something that happened two weeks ago, you're gonna get called out on it.

[00:17:33] So, you know, that's why I said there's no right answer and each option is going to come with its own set of challenges. And I wish I had a easier answer for you, but you have to go with what feels best to your gut. And the bottom line with all of this is you have to take care of your mental health. You have to know that you will be judged.

[00:18:00] Regardless if you say something or not. And if you do say something, what stance you're taking, you're going to be judged. It's literally part of the job. If I could write a description for influencers, that would be in the job description. It's not a fun part of the job description by any means, but it is there whether we like it or not.

[00:18:22] So the other thing that you can do with this is. Going back to those boundaries. If you are somebody that is really growing rapidly and you're seeing, alright, I wanna talk about this, and you're seeing, you know, nasty comments, nasty messages, all these different things, hiring someone to help in areas that are not good for you to see all the time.

[00:18:46] Is something that I highly recommend because no one person needs to be bombarded constantly because it's going to drain you and it is going to kill your business because how can you possibly think creatively and come up with wonderful, creative things while also being confronted with headlines every single day, right?

[00:19:09] It can make you not want to do this career anymore. And this can be a wonderful, wonderful career, and that's why I'm talking about it today because I want everybody to be in this for a long haul. I want everybody to be in this for the long haul, and I want you to succeed and I want you to thrive, but you have to protect your peace as an influencer.

[00:19:32] So if you want some community support, like I said, there's the Facebook group and I would really encourage you to look into bold Fluence, um, because the bottom line with all of this is you shouldn't have to go it alone.

[00:19:46] Alright, that's it. This is probably gonna be an episode that we replay a few times a year because it's just so important no matter what is going on in the world. Even if everything was completely peaceful for every single person, it would still, you know, we would be talking about protecting your peace.

[00:20:03] From overwhelm and from comparison and all of those other things that I didn't even touch about, right? Those are all extra things that we have to make sure we're taking care of ourselves when it comes to. So we'll replay this, I'm sure, and I can't wait to see you inside our community.

[00:20:28] If this episode helped you, help us grow, leave a review, share it with a friend, and tag us on social media. We can't wait to cheer you on.