Danielle RalstonFounder, How Capacity Works · Founder of ND Hive | Building the productivity hub where work actually gets done | Execution spaces, body doubling & community accountability

The Reality Behind Social Media Perfection #selfcare #socialmedia #adhd #mentalhealth

22 Jul 2024 · 1 min

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In this monologue, the speaker critiques the polished, curated images of success that dominate Instagram and other social platforms, emphasizing that most people's lives are messy and far from the flawless narratives presented online. They argue that even neurotypical individuals do not experience the constant high performance that influencers portray. The speaker celebrates ordinary, average lives, rejecting the pressure to emulate elite figures like Serena Williams or Beyoncé. They also highlight that many high‑achieving individuals have access to external support—such as assistants or executive‑function coaching—that most people cannot afford, underscoring socioeconomic disparities in the ability to maintain the appearance of perfection.

Chapters

And success for most of us looks messy. It doesn't look like an Instagram story because those things are curated. Those things are curated. It is— even neurotypical people don't have them as often as it looks like on social media. And we're also— we're normal, average people, and that's a good thing to celebrate. We are not the Serena Williamses of the world or the Beyonces of the world. We are not. We don't live in that world, and they have people that do all of the things for them. They have people that are their executive functioning skills. We can't afford to buy all of those people.