For those of you who know, I LOVE A CHALLENGE! I love to be able to test different systems and theories to see if they are effective in my life or of any benefit. So how all of this came about was I’ve recently been studying habits and creating systems for a more organized life. During my research I came across this theory of it taking 21 days to create a new habit and for it to stick.
The 21-Day Habit was first introduced by Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon in the 1950s. He discovered that a patient who had, for example, a face operation, would need 21 days to get used to their new face.
Not completely sold on the idea of the theory but I was willing to try it out. So after thinking of what new habit I wanted to create for my life I came across a video titled “The Benefits of Social Media Fasting”. I was quite intrigued and pressed by the results the person said they achieved in the video and decided to let this be my challenge. I’m calling it The 21-Day Social Media Fast.
For this particular challenge, I had to get rid of all of my social media apps. I was a little nervous yet excited because I’m highly addicted to social media and it was a huge distraction which I'm sure a lot of you guys could relate. On my phone, I have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr (mind yo’ business lol), TikTok, Pinterest, Youtube, and Snapchat. I will admit now, I erased all of them off my phone EXCEPT Youtube. I use Youtube to mainly watch motivational videos when I can’t find a good podcast to listen to. Plus I wasn’t on Youtube nearly as much as I was with Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok (My Big 3). So I kept it installed.
First of all, IT WAS TOUGH!... at the beginning.
I will admit I was peeking in on Facebook and Instagram from my computer every now and then but I only was checking messages and notifications (making sure Im not missing out on nothing). Once I realized I wasn’t missing anything I was able to stop checking it by Day 3. After that, I was able to get back on the home workout train again after being off for about 3 months. I’ve also got back into researching different things on self-awareness (which I love!), The conscious and subconscious mind, mental health, forming habits, routines, and systems. Outside of my extensive research, I’ve been able to be more productive with my time and revisit projects that’s been put on the back burner. I’ve began the journey of decluttering my life physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Getting my emotions in check for the most part; closing the chapter of unresolved stress and feelings from a recent breakup at the top of the year, and learning to be comfortable in my singleness…
I'm still working on it, but I'm much better than I was earlier this year and I'm proud of the progress I’ve made thus far so Good job Tay! (pats self on back).
Each day forward gets easier as I get adjusted to being happy with my own company again. I’ve learned so much in just 3 weeks it still shocks me but I won't bore yall with all of that but lastly, before I get to the Big News/updates, I’ve been able to divorce my phone and not checking it every few seconds for messages or scrolling for hours at a time. Now that today is the official first day back and downloaded all of my apps back I’ve taken it into consideration to turn off all the push notifications so it won't trigger me to scroll again, so far so good!
So I guess to answer the question did the 21 Day habit work? I will say YES!
On top of other routines and systems that I put in place as well. I'm super excited about all of the productivity that’s been going on and what I’ve been able to get done so far. I'm going to try my best to keep this up and keep going, but enough of that let's get to the BIG NEWS/UPDATES!!
**BIG NEWS AND UPDATES**
Let me first off say, JULY IS GOING TO BE A HUGE MONTH FOR YOURS TRULY!
One of the Biggest things is I will get the very first printed copy of my first book “Becoming A Living Testimony”. It is printing right now as I type! I wish I could say it’ll be coming out in July but how Covid-19/ Miss Rona got stuff set up everything had to be pushed back. But that’s okay! This is the final step to the book and after I receive the book and examine it if I'm good with everything I can then release it to the public and to the retail stores so you guys would be able to buy it online. As of now, the big stores the book will be available online at will be Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Target and Walmart. I cant wait to see yall taking pics with the book! When everything is safe enough for us to gather again I will be doing a book signing tour, I have a few places that I’ve already given me the green light to having it when things are safe enough for us to gather. So yeah, stay tuned for more of that on the book!
Another announcement as a result of this social media fast I got back into writing music. Now let me be clear that I'm not tryna transiting into rapping but its one of those hidden talents I have of rapping and have fun with friends or remixing some of my favorite songs. If you haven’t already I posted a song I did with my cousin Ka$h called Bored in the House from the popular Tyga song with the same title. Check it out here:
[Spoiler Alert]
A BIG Announcement in regards to my music will drop THIS SATURDAY, June 20th so be on the lookout for that. I’m so excited about this project. It’s been 11yrs in the making.
The last thing I will say for now is as far as big projects go, if you haven’t heard, Im a co-host of a podcast called “It’s Sunny in the Shade” alongside my best friend Dewayne and good friend Lisa. We started season two of the show not too long ago and I would love for you guys to check it out. Our most recent episode was about Black Lives Matter protests that took place in all 50 states of the United States in response to George Floyd’s murder. Giving our perspective and opinion on how it relates to us in the Black LGBTQIA community as well. So you guys can check the podcast out everywhere you listen to podcast under the name “It’s Sunny in the Shade”.
Thank you guys again for joining me along my journey and growing with me. I pray you stick around and watch how the Lord uses me as a vessel to spread my testimony to help as many people as he allows me to. Until the next post remember—
“ALWAYS believe in yourself, because I know I believe in you.”
Take Care,
ARTavius Veasey