Think of a few health, wellness, or fitness influencers you've been following for a while. You've most likely seen their daily routines on several occasions.
Often, these routines look something like this: they’re early risers, getting a good 8 hours of sleep before starting their day with a super healthy breakfast or pre-workout snack. They usually exercise, get some sunlight, or meditate first thing in their day.
Afterwards, they might do some laptop work and become super productive, ticking off their to-do lists left and right. They make sure to drink their 8 glasses of water, take their superfood supplements, maintain a full face of makeup, styled hair, or trimmed beard, and squeeze in a health-bomb smoothie during this time too. They'll often end their day with friends or family, highlighting all the laughs and cuddles on their stories—all while constantly filming themselves, taking, editing pictures, and writing descriptions.
Naturally, we ask ourselves, "How much of this is actually real?" The answer varies, and often these are extremely curated snippets of their days that create an impression that their lives are fully figured out and, most importantly, more productive than you could ever imagine yourself being. Discipline, hard work, dedication. And they have something to show for it too: they’re at their ideal weight, their hair, skin, and even business are thriving, they’re in great physical shape, and they rarely get sick.
This post is not about dissecting the realism of these representations or how much of an influencer’s life is actually true. At the end of the day, most of these people do get a lot done in their 24 hours.
I want to introduce another perspective on viewing what lies behind a wellness content creator's daily life. And the key word here is perspective. The lens. The public eye.
These influencers and content creators are constantly being observed by sometimes millions of people, which brings an incredibly strong sense of accountability. They won't skip a workout because there are millions of viewers counting on them to do said workout. Their (silent) accountability buddies. Their most precious stakeholders.
The influencer's sense of self is often developed through the perspective of their audience, and thus they need to account for their wellness identity. The only way to get your audience to trust you is to be transparent and fulfil your commitments and promises.
This accountability has many dimensions and works on various levels. Social media can be an extremely powerful reinforcement, appealing to our emotions through every like, comment, and follower.
Humans have a long history of fighting to be seen, worshipped, and followed. Even religions are based on this concept. And while the ideas behind this worship might have changed, the results are the same. The stronger a leader you become, the more people will follow you. And the only way to be a strong leader is to take responsibility for what you preach.
That influencer on your phone telling you to get up and go to the gym no matter how much you might dread it at the moment definitely doesn't share the same experience of the gym and working out as you do. I'm not saying it's necessarily easier for them, but we need to consider the immense power accountability has on these people. Even your yoga instructor at the local yoga studio has loads of accountability just by having to preach a healthy mindset to a group of 10-15 individuals several times a week. But imagine the yoga instructor who has a YouTube channel with 6 million subscribers, out of which 4 million follow her daily stories on Instagram too. They actively monitor and evaluate that instructor's actions, progress, and commitments, ensuring that they adhere to their promises and responsibilities.
So, what's my point with this post? It's not to downplay the tremendous discipline and hard work these individuals do. On the contrary, I applaud and appreciate their efforts, knowing that these efforts help a lot of people.
My point is to highlight the value of accountability. True accountability. The impact it has on our mind, our motivation, our sense of responsibility- call it discipline. The power it has to get us out of bed and take action in our lives, not for the sake of others, but for the sake of taking responsibility for what we promise to them, and what they reflect back to us. In the end, we are all social creatures. Probably as social as it gets. We all know that whole "getting dressed up for yourself" thing is a myth. We form our identities through our social environments, we live up to society's expectations, and the very reason most of us even want to get fit is to fit in. It's the controversial truth we often like to downplay.
This is exactly why coaching and mentoring works. Most of you already know what’s healthy and which foods you should avoid. You know how often you should move your body, or that hydration is essential, or the importance of fruits and veggies. But what most people struggle with is actual accountability, because often it is not enough to stay accountable only to oneself. There is so much more at play when it comes to our mind, motivation, and discipline. It's how you grew up, your genetics, your willpower, your life circumstances, your relationships, your environment—all of which affect how disciplined you are going to be when it comes to reaching your goals. At the end of the day, some will need more accountability and some less, but either way, it is a crucial thing to have. It can be a coach, a friend, a family member, a support group, or even better, all of those. But you do not need to do it alone. In fact, rarely anyone does.
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