First let’s go through the things I would do daily on my phone. I was fairly involved in social media or at least Instagram and Snapchat I would keep up with my friends on both platforms and basically checked them single day, I know not a great use of my time, but when you add in the YouTube videos I watched or got sent, and the occasional mobile game I would play, and the senseless news I got caught up in the time really added up quick. I feel like it was definitely a part of my life but also how I viewed the world around me as well.
Let’s Get Into How Not Having a Smartphone Has Changed Me
For starters, I gained HOURS of time each day, which really gave myself time to learn about who I am as a person. I learned that all the time I had wasted spending on what other people are doing when essentially none of that mattered at all, even if they are friends or family nothing they post means anything to me and 9/10 times it means nothing to anyone even the one posting it. Unless you are selling something the followers doesn’t matter, the people you follow on Instagram doesn’t matter, social media is meaningless from all perspectives except for gaining an audience and marketing to that audience.
I started Focusing on Myself A LOT
With all the time I saved not being on my smartphone I wanted to learn who I was and who I wanted to be, and how could get to where I want to be. I started researching Philosophy quite a bit, wanting to dive into the minds of outstanding people throughout history. I wanted to learn how to conquer great struggle and be able to push through anything, conquer anxiety, conquer procrastination, failures, regrets, I wanted to know how to bounce back from mistakes better than ever. I started diving into the stoic minds of Epictetus the man who was enslaved and never once saw it as a disadvantage, eventually outlived the emperor that enslaved him, and then gained his freedom. Then went on to teach philosophy in Rome and even after being banished from Rome, he moved to Greece and opened his own school for philosophy. Talk about being mentally sound and determined is an understatement. To the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius who led a failing empire that was on the brink of financial collapse, and amidst a plague that killed millions known as one of the three great plagues to strike the classical world. By learning from their lives, I realized that they are many great lessons in the struggles in life and I am learning how to embrace the struggles of life and accept them.
I Became Quite the Scholar
Are you noticing a theme yet? Stoicism and philosophy aren’t the only things I started learning. I started reading more and the more I learned the more I wanted to learn, I started learning from Robert Kiyosaki how to invest my time and money, Bob Proctor on how to succeed in business and how to find what I wanted to do. I started listening to Grant Cardone give lessons on real estate. I studied how Rockefeller got started and the struggles he faced as well as other Business Magnates such as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and even Elon Musk, and how he got his start. One of the most important things I learned is I can control only what I do, the actions I take towards whatever goal I have, and each action is a decision, and the collection of decisions that you have made up until this point makes up who you are as a person and a lot of times it makes up where you are at in your life. I can definitely say that I have improved in all of these areas, and it all started with getting rid of the smartphone I had and using my time wiser.
I Live Much Happier Without Social Media and Without a Phone Glued to my Hip
Overall focusing on myself and cutting many needless things out of my life has made me much happier and left more time for the things I truly enjoy in life. I get to enjoy nature more, grow plants, meditate, reading, and combat sports, as well as having more workouts overall benefitting my health. I would suggest that you all give it a try especially if you are not where you want to be at in life. You can improve many variables in your life just by putting the phone down, turning it off, and putting it out of sight after the first week or so I never even noticed that I didn’t have it with me. I was free to explore my surroundings without any distractions. Life is more beautiful without smartphones.
