Isa Watson - Life Beyond Likes: Logging Off Your Screen and Into Your Life

Contents

PRAISE FOR LIFE BEYOND LIKES

Social media is a regular part of our daily lives, but were still adjusting to it in so many ways. Life Beyond Likes gives us the tools and tips to create boundaries with itcreating more space and time for ourselves, the people we love, and our joy.

Rebecca Minkoff, fashion designer and entrepreneur

Isas vulnerability and outpouring of her life storiesfailures and allis heartwarming. Life Beyond Likes gives us a refreshing reminder that failure is a gift, and encourages us to be more open with each other about our hardships. Thats what brings us together.

Reshma Saujani, New York Times bestselling author of Brave, Not Perfect and founder of Girls Who Code

Isas take on social media is something we all need to hear. Her message speaks to our lives right now and also sets us up for a more fulfilling future. Life Beyond Likes will make you feel more comfortable in your skin, and ready (excited, even) to take on the world with confidence and graciousness.

Mondaire Jones, US congressman

Isa has an amazing and inimitable way of unearthing the impact of technology on our everyday lives. Life Beyond Likes is packed full of practical life-changing tips that help you to become more productive, love yourself more, and give you the tools to achieve your fullest potential in the real world instead of an app. This is a must read for anyone looking to escape the dark abyss of social media in order to build real genuine relationships.

Peace Hyde, head of digital media and creator at Forbes Africa and executive producer at Netflix

Isas take on social media is the voice and perspective we need to hear on this issue. Her approach is informative, relatable and encouraging. She invites us to be kind (and honest) with ourselves and open with others. This is a book that will spark conversations between family, friends, colleagues and strangers.

Jamilah Lemieux, writer and culture critic

Isa has been my friend for 20 years. Knowing so much about her journey, this book still pulled at my heartstrings. Life Beyond Likes was so raw and personal, it made me feel as if she was in my very living room for a girls hang out. It was intimate, heartfelt, funny, helpful, and so much more. Im willing to bet any reader will walk away feeling this way, too.

Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, professor and scientific lead for the coronavirus vaccine

Whether it feels like your entire career, livelihood, and well-being depends on keeping millions of strangers on the internet happy, or you simply use social media to keep up with friends and family, the practical suggestions Isa makes in this book will help you consider the important impact social media has on your time, self-image, and relationships.

Alexis Gay, comedian

Isas book reads like a warm but direct conversation with a friend, with practical guidance and hard-core research on how to live your best real lifenot the superficial #bestlife that we all see on social media. Isas rich and varied life experiences and the lessons she has learned along the way generate clear and immediately useful wisdom that you can use today to make your life one of deep happiness based on the things that truly matter.

Chad Dickerson, executive coach and former CEO of Etsy

Isa is an inspirational entrepreneur, and her Life Beyond Likes lays out a philosophy that we all could benefit from employing in our lives. It will not only have you reflecting on your social media habits, but also how to cultivate genuine connectedness with the people around you.

Audrey Gelman, owner of The Six Bells and cofounder of The Wing

This is a book after my own heart. Isa hits it on the nail, candidly guiding us through important topics like celebrating and leaning into our full authentic selves, learning to be vulnerable, and the power of building relationships. Life Beyond Likes teaches and unpacks 21st century life skills this generation needs. By the end, readers will feel empowered to design and live a life of their choosing.

Tai Beauchamp, founder of Morning Mindset with Tai and cofounder of Brown Girl Jane

Life Beyond Likes copyright 2023 by Isa Watson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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First E-Book Edition: 2023

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022028928

ISBN 9781637740934 (print)

ISBN 9781637740941 (ebook)

Editing by Claire Schulz

Copyediting by Michael Fedison

Proofreading by Sarah Vostok and Ariel Fagiola

Text design and composition by Aaron Edmiston

Cover design by Zoe Norvell

Cover image Shutterstock / Fleur_de_papier (emoji icons)

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Id like to dedicate this book to my dad, the late Doval Emmanuel Watson. There is no man who believed in me more. Because of him, I have persevered in ways that I never imagined possible. And I am forever grateful to him.

CONTENTS

I n many ways, the internet has messed us up. Sure, technological advances have enabled a lot of great things. Anybody with internet access and a phone can get information on just about anything. Theres a lot we can do in a matter of seconds: Were now able to instantly pay our friends for our half of the dinner tab via Venmo or Cash App. Were able to take the arcane task of paying personal taxes in the United States through a service that has the updated tax code each year and allows us to submit it digitally. Were even able to remotely direct our parked electric car to come pick us up with no one behind the wheel.

Undoubtedly, we can do some pretty cool things with the click of a button. However, the internet and its tools have also become an addiction that we millennials and gen-zers just cant shakeand it has empowered the creation of passive habits that arent all that healthy for us. We look for endless validation from strangers on the internet; were constantly confusing internet friendships with real-life oneswe even now fall in love on the internet. Take me as an example (though if you picked up this book, Im guessing that you can relate). I spent all of my twenties unaware of how the digital world and social media affected my sense of self-worth, friendships, and real-life decisions. Id create post after post documenting my supposedly fabulous lifepartying at the top NYC clubs, traveling to the hottest spots in Europewithout ever even hinting about any of my private struggles. Id also endlessly consume the fabulous and seemingly perfect online lives of my friends, let their curated awesomeness make me feel bad about myself, without ever thinking about what they might be omitting, the private struggles they might be hiding, or how