If you’ve been following along with my saga for the last week or so…
Then you know my social media got hacked.
Both IG and FB.
Over a decade of hard work gone in an instant.
And a daily effin’ nightmare of trying to get it back from the powers that be at IG and FB.
BTW, I have a new nickname for Facebook. It’s FFB. I’ll let you figure out what that first F stands for… #sideeye
In any case, this dumpster fire of a situation got me thinking.
About how we show up when shiz doesn’t go our way.
Maybe it’s a biz disaster like I’m going through.
Maybe you suddenly lose your job… or you get sick at the worst possible time.
Maybe you go through an unexpected breakup. Or a family member dies right when you’re about to start your dream opportunity.
Shiz happens, right?
So… how do you show up in the aftermath?
I’ve learned a few things about my own situation… and wanted to share them with you.
Because the feedback I’ve been getting is actually really great – and it’s totally applicable to any sort of crap tornado that hits you out of the blue too.
How to Show Up When Shiz Goes Sideways
You can either laugh or cry – choose wisely.
Now, I wanna make this super clear.
I totally get that me losing my IG account is not necessarily on the same level as, say: publicly finding out your husband has been cheating on you with the nanny. #lookingatyouBenAffleck #teamJenGarner #stillnotoverit
Or the city of Boulder, CO (my hometown) burning down last week. You heard that, right? 1,000 homes lost. Damn. #puttingitinperspective
But I worked my butt off to grow that account.
TBH, it actually feels like a bit of a violation.
And I’ll admit… right when the hack happened, I felt some kind of way.
Stabby. I mostly felt stabby.
And totally out of sorts.
It totally threw me off for a good portion of the day. I had a real hard time concentrating or being motivated to do annnnnnything.
Because ya know what? I’m human.
Life threw me for a big old loop – and I let it. For a short period of time.
And then I got back to work.
Because here’s the deal… you get to choose how you feel.
You get to choose how you respond.
AKA: How you show up.
When shiz falls apart in your life, you can either choose to laugh… or you can choose to cry.
So choose wisely.
While everyone on my team and I have been relentlessly bombarding IG and FB support on the daily… I decided to laugh my way through this fustercluck.
To bring humor to a situation that’s severely hampering my biz – while still being authentic.
So I made a new IG account (please follow me BTW @iamhayleyhobson - same username as my TikTok).
I created new videos and posts that talked about what it’s like getting hacked… and how I’m dealing with it – in a fun, humorous way. #darkhumorFTW
And the people who followed me commented that they liked how I was handling the situation.
I wasn’t lamenting about it.
I wasn’t going silently into the night.
And peeps rallied around me. Which is how I was able to get back 500 followers in just a couple days. And more coming back every day. (If I keep this up, I’ll be at 50k in just 4 months #whatthewhat?!)
Yeah, I’ve still got a long way to go (and I’m still hopeful I can get back my old @hayleyhobson account) but if I had chosen to show up in a different way…
…my results (not to mention how people viewed me) would have completely been different.
I’m feeling confident… motivated… and committed to using this as an opportunity. And to use this as fuel for growth.
As for you, here’s my tip:
Feel how you feel. But don’t let it take over your life.
So you went through some shiz.
Does it need to define you? Do you need to let it skew your view of the world? Do you need to feel sad/mad/whatever just because people expect you to?
Hellz no.
You get to decide how you show up – how you respond to a situation. Because whether you know it or not, your attitude impacts those around you (yep, even online).
And you can use this as an opportunity to come out better and stronger than ever before.
Look for the lesson.
This one is realllll hard to do in the moment. But again, you get to choose how you respond.
They say hindsight is 20/20 – but you can take advantage of that hindsight pretty quickly after shiz goes down.
For example: the big lesson for me has been that I need to focus on my email list.
Because when you build your biz on social media, you’re building it on quicksand – and someone else’s property.
And here’s the thing…
I literally teach this. And I do *do* it on the regular.
But now, more than ever, this lesson is staring me straight in the face.
Mostly like this:
This hacking situation has also reaffirmed what I have been starting to do more of this year: share my insights on other people’s platforms.
AKA: grow my audience – and my email list – through collaborations.
I now have the opportunity to start fresh. To double down on this goal I have for 2022.
(And to level up my password protection best practices).
These lessons just got here in a totally different way than I ever would have imagined.
So thank you, Universe, for the opportunity to prioritize taking immediate action toward my goals.
When you go through something awful in your life… do you look for the lessons?
Whenever life throws ya a wicked curveball, look for the lesson. Be open to what it has to show you.
And then take action.
Because a lesson without action means you’re doomed to repeat that shiz.
Keep effing going.
I’ve always been someone that people describe as “strong.”
Which, for the longest time, I just didn’t get.
I’m just me. I’ve always been this way.
I mean, when shiz happens, are you supposed to just curl up in a ball and die?
Obviously, no.
Well, obviously to me.
But apparently there are people who let hard times take them down. They succumb to the downward spiral. And get derailed for yearsssss.
And I’m here to tell ya…
You get to be resilient AF.
You gotta keep going. Even when it’s super hard.
Even when you don’t know what to do.
You’re gonna be ok. You will get through this.
For me, my “keep effing going” meant completely pivoting my entire Q1 business plan.
But you gotta embrace the suck.
The suck is temporary. You have more choices than you think – despite what the suck tells ya.
There are tons of inspirational stories of people who went through some real hard shiz – and came out better for it.
I mean, Robert Downey Jr. was arrested multiple times – for everything from for possession of heroin and cocaine to having a loaded handgun to trespassing.
He spent time in jail and rehab trying to get his shiz together for years.
And now he's friggin Iron Man – and one of Hollywood’s most bankable stars.
Which brings me back to the point I made earlier.
That I had to completely switch up what I’m doing in the first three months of the year. Reset allll my goals in the blink of an eye, too.
But the good news is…
I’ve got a new workshop lined up for ya.
If you’ve had goals, dreams, and projects you want to make serious progress on – but they just don’t seem to move the way you want to…
If you’ve been thrown a loop and you wanna get back on track fast…
This workshop will help you build the momentum you need to finally get shiz done.
To bust past whatever crap has gotten in your way.
To release the blocks you’ve been holding on to – and don’t need anymore.
Plus, the practical, tactical stuff that’ll help you create mini-wins that motivate you to keep going… all the way to the finish line.
You don’t have to let bad times derail you.
Come to the workshop and let me show ya a better way.
It’s free to come.
Let’s make 2022 our best year yet.
XO,
Hayley