Online versus Real Life: What You Portray Matters {Personal & Professional}

I have a friend who always laughs at me because I post some of the best photos of my insane kids on the internet.  A lot of times you miss the meltdowns.  You miss the moments that make me feel like a crazy mom.  Social media has taught us to just show the amazing things about our lives, and not some of those REAL moments.  I should mention that I don’t separate my personal and professional Instagram accounts – I’m an open book.  Online versus real life is something that we all think we know about – but have you actually considered it’s effects?

Clearly, I’m guilty of having an online persona – it’s part of my job.  Every once in a while you’ll get a photo of an epic meltdown from Wren, or a goofy photo of Piper (because she’s always that way).  What you don’t see?  The tough days at work.  You don’t see that owning a business is hard (unless I’m actively blogging about it).  You don’t see my greasy haired messy bun on a daily basis churning away at a keyboard.  We show the made up version of ourselves, because it feels right.  It’s what everyone else does.

Here’s what we don’t realize we’re doing: we’re creating a culture of small business owners that SEEMINGLY have everything together, and thus are making a lot of other small businesses feel less than.  We end up making ourselves unapproachable.  It’s a fine line to walk – sharing everything and nothing all at the same time.  You don’t want to share too much, because you don’t to be an oversharer, but you don’t want to share too little, because you don’t want to be unattainable.

Why not be unattainable?  Why not try to show the world that life is perfect?  The reality is that it’s not.  The reality is that life can’t be perfect for everyone – but can come pretty damn close.  Because I don’t separate my personal and professional Instagram, I walk a fine line.  Part of my brand, part of what Misty Saves the Day is, is showing that you can have a life outside of work.  The idea was always that you’d have time to own a business, and time to have time for family.  So does that mean I should show my struggles?

I probably should show them more.  I should show Wren losing her mind about running out of bananas, or Piper crying about Wren waking up before her (she gets mad if she’s not the first one woken up).  I should do some of my Insta stories without makeup and with my messy bun, because 90% of the time, that’s how I’m working. I don’t have to overshare my whole life, not in the slightest.  What I DO need to do is show my REAL life a little more than what I want the online world to think it is.

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