Kelsey HigginsonSports Nutrition Coach and Founder at Clutch Day Coaching

Your phone should be the last thing that holds you back from your dreams

16 Jan 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:18

In this motivational video, the speaker warns viewers—particularly athletes and goal‑oriented individuals—about the hidden time‑stealing power of smartphones and social media. Using the Percy Jackson lotus‑flower myth as an allegory, the speaker explains how an alluring, immersive experience can make hours feel like minutes, diverting attention from important quests. A personal anecdote illustrates how a nightly habit of scrolling Instagram after putting a child to bed often expands into 40‑60 minutes of unnoticed time. The speaker frames social media as a modern "lotus flower" that pulls users away from their long‑term goals, urging the audience to treat their phones as the last obstacle before achieving their lifelong aspirations.

Chapters

Your phone should be the last thing that holds you back from hitting your goals and achieving your lifelong quests. When Percy Jackson was on his quest, he found himself in a casino. This was the most amazing casino he had ever been to. The food was delicious, the attractions were amazing, his friends were so fun, the people were so nice, and the 4 or 5 hours that he had spent there were probably the best 4 hours he had had in weeks. But the issue was that those 4 hours was actually multiple days without him knowing it. Percy, when he had gotten to the casino, had eaten this lotus flower, and this lotus flower was what made everything look larger than life and what had made him to spend 2 days instead of what he thought were 4 hours in this casino and took time away from what actually mattered most, which was his quest. Ultimately, it made him forget who he was and the goal that he was pursuing. Now, I've got big goals in my life, but sometimes after I put my kid to bed, I pull out my phone, I get on Instagram thinking I would only be on there for 5 minutes, and I look up and 40 minutes or even an hour some nights has gone by without me even noticing it. Social media is one of my lotus flowers. It doesn't necessarily get me closer to who I want to be or to the quests that I have, If anything, it makes me a little farther away from those. I know that this is the same for a lot of you athletes out there, so here's your wake-up call. Percy, wake up! Your phone should be the last thing that holds you back from hitting your goals and achieving your lifelong quests.