My anti-social approach to social media

I've been getting some angry comments lately from people who are pissed that I don't respond to more comments on my posts.

I totally get why this would be irritating to some, but I also thought it would be valuable for you to understand why I spend so little time commenting on social media so you could entertain a different perspective.

Specifically, I'll cover:

• My reason for being on social media
• My attitude towards time
• What I've learned about staying in a productive, healthy state of mind

Great, let's get into it!

I have a very specific "reason for being" on social media.

Let me start by sharing a little more about me personally.

I am a hardcore introvert. What that means is that I get the most energy by being alone, which is in contrast to an extrovert who gets a lot of energy by engaging and connecting with others.

So I'm actually not drawn to being on social media to "be social", but rather to use this platform to CREATE and SHARE my own inner thoughts, ideas, and content.

That's why I consider social media to be more like "my canvas" than anything else. When I am inspired because I have a thought, or a blog, or an article, or a rant, I open up LinkedIn and share it with you. All in all, I probably spend about 5-10 minutes per day on social media, and that's it. But after I'm done posting, I jump off and get back to what's important to me (which I discuss in greater detail below).

If you enjoy what I post, I am thrilled. If you do not enjoy what I post, I am still thrilled. Because my point for being on social media is to share "my art", and then you can respond anyway you want.

Sometimes I ask for feedback or comments, because I am genuinely interested in your thoughts. When that happens, I enjoy reading what you write and thinking about how to turn your responses into more content. But that is how I respond, with more content and not with more comments.

To give you a good analog, I distinctly remember watching an interview between Kendrick Lamar and Rick Rubin about how Kendrick creates his music but doesn't worry about how people receive it. That really resonated with me, which is why I attempt to continuously create great content here, but not worry about what happens next... because that is a different part of the process (that drains me).

I believe my time is my most valuable resource.

At this moment in time, I am a CEO of a large, fast-growing cannabis education company with huge ambitions. This consumes at least 50-60 hours per week of my time, and pretty much all of my mental energy.

I am also the father of an adorable 3-year old boy (Luca Kai), and a husband to my amazing wife (Mandee Lee). This consumes at least 15-25 hours of my time per week.

I am also incredibly devoted to my personal mental, physical, and spiritual practices. That means I meditate, practice yoga, work out, do cold therapy, cook / eat a plant based diet, take supplements, spend time learning, EVERY single day. This consumes at least 7-14 hours per week of my time.

These 3 buckets are my priorities, and thus I do my best to show up with every ounce of energy, leadership, and love for them, every single day.

As a result, it leaves very little time for much else, and for better or worse, commenting on social media posts falls under the bucket of "not a priority".

I believe that becoming ruthless with how you prioritize your time and energy is a very important part of living a happy, balanced, and successful life.

I don't know how this will be received.

I have long debated with myself about sharing these inner-thoughts with you, since I know exposing them will inevitably turn some people against me.

But at the end of the day, I wanted people to understand that 1) I still really appreciate everyone who reads / engages with me here on LinkedIn even if you don't see me commenting back, and 2) you don't have to do things you don't like, even if others expect you to.

So THANK YOU to all the angry commenters who pushed me to open up about this, I hope it was interesting and valuable, and as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

Much love, Max