Checking In: Over Half a Year Later Without Social Media

Since March 30, 2025 I've been 100% free of all mainstream social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok, threads, etc. I had slowly weened off since 2022 – getting rid of Facebook and Tik Tok first – but it took awhile longer before I permanently deleted Twitter and Instagram). It feels good. I've attached the original article I wrote about why I decided to pull the plug on social media, but I figured I'd share an update on my feelings about the matter now that it's been almost 200 days since making that move.

https://www.30minutephysique.com/post/i-need-your-help

It's 7 months later and my online readership and income (from my blog – 30minutephysique.com – and my product site – garagegymbro.gumroad.com) have grown. Also, my in-person personal training business – which has been going strong for years now – has taken off to even new levels of success. To the point where I have to cease accepting new in-person clients and recently had to increase my rates for current clients – even those that have been with me for 3+ years. (And they all graciously agreed and continue to work with me, despite the increased rates)! 

The great majority of my income comes from in-person personal training, NOT online training, writing, or selling. I also enjoy the in-person personal training side of things much more than online training. I love writing online, but that's really more of a hobby than a job. Therefore, it makes sense for me to spend less time online and more time offline. And when I am ONLINE, to spend it doing what I enjoy – writing – instead of worrying about selling online personal training packages or onboarding new virtual clients. I'd rather just write blog articles and ebooks, while accepting tips and charging reasonable prices for the PDF guides and ebooks that I publish.

What else has changed since I nixed the social medias?

Well, I spend more time reading, writing, praying, walking, and training since eliminating social media. I spend much less time feeling annoyed (by the general culture and grifters on social media) and I feel less overwhelmed, since I no longer worry about creating content that keeps up with the Joneses, so to speak.

When it comes to fitness, I've always promoted the philosophy of focusing more on doing less, but better. I'm taking that same approach to my business and to my online presence. The results have been amazing for me, all around.

You don't have to do what everyone else is doing. If you don't enjoy using social media, if you don't enjoy creating content on those big social media platforms…DON'T.

Contrary to popular belief – you do NOT need to be active on social media in order to make money online or in the real world (especially in the real world). Old school personal connection with those in your community still – shockingly – works great. Most people are horrible at actually interacting with people in their physical community, which makes it easy to stand out if you have basic people skills and provide a high quality service.

Writing articles online using your own personal website is a great option for people like me who want to reach others and share experiences without playing the social media algorithm games (not to mention the shady data collection practices).

You do NOT need to have social media accounts to stay connected to the world. In fact, I'd argue spending time on social media has an inverse relationship to how connected and aware you actually ARE about the world around you (go outside and see the world for yourself. Don't rely on what the online influencers are telling you). You don't need to be active on social media to keep up with friends, family, and the current state of affairs (all of which are often portrayed in exaggerated fashion on social media).

In a similar vein – and for comparison’s sake – you do NOT need to drink alcohol to go out and socialize with friends, even if everyone else is drinking. These are choices we can make or not make, based on what we feel is best for our lives, our health, and our own personal goals. 

Create your standards and maintain those standards of living. Eliminate distractions, focus on what you enjoy, and quit allowing things that negatively affect your mood, outlook, and stress levels to exist in your life (for me, social media and short form content – both consuming and creating – was a stressor and time waster).

Minimize your inputs to maximize your outputs. Focus on consuming high quality content (whether that's from books, TV, Internet, social media, or even friendships) so that you can spend more time performing better and more efficiently in your real life. Too many people sacrifice their goals to watch other people achieve theirs. 

That's just my experience. Your mileage (or specific examples) may vary. And no, I'm not saying everyone else needs to quit social media and stop drinking alcohol. I'm just encouraging you to eliminate things that take more from you than they give you in return. For me, I never enjoyed nor benefited from social media or alcohol. So in 2025, I eliminated both from my life and I feel better for it. It's that simple.