We’re so focused on living our best lives that we forget how our use of social media is impacting us. Since social media is one of our primary methods of communication, we must acknowledge how it inhibits us from getting better.

Here are six ways to live your best life through social media.

1. Develop A Sense Of Humor

Everybody’s content isn’t for you or about you. It may not speak to your situation or circumstances, but every once in a while, we apply someone’s else’s content to our daily lives. It infects our spirit, stunts our growth and minimizes our ability to move forward in a positive manner. Sometimes we take things too seriously. Developing a sense of humor is the only weapon you can use to fight against misleading, destructive content.

2. Compete With Yourself

Every once and a while you will find someone who’s doing better than you, who’s further along in their career than you and who appears to be in a better relationship than you. Living our best life isn’t about competing with someone else’s journey. It’s about competing with who we were yesterday, last week and many years ago.

3. Stop Gravitating To Negative Content

Our hater’s content can speak louder than supporters. Some of us gravitate to negative, demoralizing content, that ruins our mood, more than positive ones. We become so drunk from negative content and hungry to receive approval that we fail to generate sober thoughts.

4. Validate Yourself

Validation doesn’t come from people hiding behind cell phones and computer screens. The fact is, most people who follow you won’t support you with your endeavors. Start a fundraiser or plan an event and see how many followers support. Living your best life means that you understand that the source of your strength comes from the Lord, not trolls or nosey people seeking your ability to maintain. Love your own content. It doesn’t matter if nobody likes it, you like it!

5. Increase Engagement

Living your best life doesn’t happen while sliding in someone’s DMS. It’s what happens outside the DMs that shows your course and quality of your relationships.

6. Love Your Blackness

Society consistently promotes negative content, with an absence of historical facts and challenging thoughts, to encourage you that blackness only fits in one box. We’re bombarded with content speaking to how communities are dying, that we forget our bloodline.

Living our best life means we have full understanding that we reign from Kings & Queens. We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. Despite the negative statistics, our intelligence comes from our ancestors, those who built nations, developed projects and produced inventions (despite not being properly compensated) that the world still uses today.

Living our best life means loving your blackness. It’s recognizing that despite what social media says, we know that black is beautiful, black don’t crack and despite our problems, we say it loud: “I’m black and I’m proud!”