Ironic that I post this here, on Social Media! Or perhaps apt…
Since my last blog I’ve been observing across various platforms an ever-increasing divide form between the fit getting fitter, and the unfit falling further out of shape. That’s where the real irony is – because many success/progress stories that get posted are often misunderstood or misinterpreted by those who really need to hear their message, and have the opposite effect.
Think of the last post you saw about fitness on Facebook or Instagram, for example: did it inspire you or put you off? My point is, both are possible – and it may be more down to your perspective than the post itself.
Suppose you were feeling fresh, positive, had a good morning… wow, that post fired you up, maybe you went to the gym that day, and had a better session than usual. WIN!
But maybe it caught you on a bad day, problems at work or at home had got you down already, and then seeing someone else’s success kind of rubbed you up the wrong way? Not only did you sack off the run you’d planned, but furthermore you felt a mental change of direction away from a perceived failure.
Often, we’re presented with images of sculpted thighs and bum… flat, lean abs… big arms and shoulders… fitness magazine fronts covers; and now in our newsfeed: right there in your hand, glaring up at you, carried around in your pocket, and not avoidable like the old magazine rack at the newsagent was. It’s a cultural change, and it’s not your fault it’s now thrown at you 24/7.
But how does that make you feel?
Maybe we see these and think it’s a goal we can work towards. Other times, we feel it could be a dream that is beyond us.
Do we sometimes put these possibilities on a pedestal because we are afraid to fail on the road to achieving them? And even worse, do we sometimes mismatch our goals and ideals to a far-flung end result that really just needs breaking down to smaller achievable parts?
There are so many options, and so many people shouting from the rooftops about their success… so why aren’t I one of them? Why isn’t my plan working? Why do I keep stopping?
All great questions! But on asking ourselves, do we thwart our progress in fear of the answers? Often it may be that asking the question out loud, to a friend, colleague, of fitness trainer, could reveal a simple answer you could use, and get past that frustration.
Pictures can hide a lie. More so than ever, photography can be adapted to suit what’s being offered or sold. We all know this. We might admire, we might also roll our eyes. But conversely, we are surrounded by the undeniable honesty of people publishing candid shots and video clips of their first 10k run finisher’s medal, a group class they plucked up the courage to attend, a charity boxing event, or even a triathlon.
What I’m getting at is really this: do people give up on their idea of trying to change and improve, simply by interpreting Social Media posts from others – often people they actually know – as gloating or even Narcissism?
