WHY I DELETED INSTAGRAM 3 YEARS AGO AND HAVEN'T LOOKED BACK

Hey everyone .

It's Carly Burr and welcome back to my channel today .

I'm going to be sharing with you why I deleted my Instagram three years ago and I haven't looked back first off .

I just want to start by saying yes , I did delete my Instagram three years ago .

This is not something that I just tried to get you to click on this video .

I have not , I have had Instagram for three whole years .

It's so crazy to say that now , but I'm going to share with you why I deleted it , how I got to that point and what it has done for me in my life today .

All right .

So thinking back on when I had Instagram and why I got to the point where I decided I didn't want it anymore .

Um One of the major reasons why I got rid of it in the first place was because I started to notice myself posting things just to post it if that makes any sense at all .

Um I would go do something and I'd get a good picture for it .

I'd take forever to take a good picture from it .

And then I take forever to edit the photo and forever to think of a caption to post and all for what just people could like it and comment on it and then we can move on .

And so it just didn't really make sense to me anymore .

And I was like , you know what , this is not making me happy .

This isn't serving any other people in any other way .

It's kind of just something that everyone does and I do it too .

I also was just really sick and tired of seeing perfection 24 7 because I know that's not reality .

And so when you see perfection all the time , then it starts to make you think , oh my gosh , this seems like reality because this is what I keep seeing .

But how come it's not like that when I go day to day throughout my like the regular tasks I do .

It's just everyone posts their best on Instagram , not everyone .

Some people are pretty real with it , but most people post their very best and their heightened moments and their happy times and it just isn't really real .

And I didn't really like that about it because I came across as fake to me and I would see people posting things and doing things just to post it .

And I found myself doing that too and I was tired of it because I'm not a fake person .

I like to be super real .

And I like when people can be real with me and it just didn't really align with my goals in life and with where I wanted to go .

So something that was super eye opening for me .

And another big why of why I deleted my Instagram in the first place was because I felt like I started to lose myself .

I feel like I kind of started conforming in a way and just kind of doing what everyone else is doing and becoming what everyone else seemed to be becoming on there , which wasn't authentic to me and it wasn't truly me .

And I was like , ok , I don't want to become someone that the world is telling me I should be .

I want to become who I want to be and who I know I can be and who I feel inside that I should be .

So that was a huge ok moment for me where I was like , Instagram is not going to give me my identity .

I'm going to create it for myself and I'm going to become that person that I really want to be .

And another one is that still to this day when I go out into public or I'm walking through the mall or when I'm walking down the street , even people are on their phones and that's kind of normal these days .

And I try not to be that person .

I usually am not on my phone when I'm in public places .

And anyway , so I notice people are on their phones and what are they doing when they're on their phones ?

The majority of them are actually on Instagram and I'm just mind blown that we can't just get away from it while we're out walking the dog or while we're out shopping at the store .

Like it really is .

Insta that important that we have to be on there 24 7 missing out on these incredible , could potentially be incredible moments or these incredible experiences that we're having while we're trying to document everything for Instagram .

I just , it blew my mind that that's how the world was and I wasn't really OK with it .

I was like , I want to experience some moments and keep those precious with myself .

I don't need to share everything with the world and everyone doesn't need to share everything with me either .

And so so yeah , when I go outside and I see people on their Instagram , I was just like , OK , this is not ok with me .

I don't want to be that person .

So that also helped aiding in the decision to get rid of Instagram even at work .

I mean , I'm in a meeting at work and everyone has their phone with them , whether it's sitting on on the conference table or it's in their lap or under the conference table or everyone had to have their phone with them .

And actually a few weeks ago , we were in a meeting at work and one of the guys that I worked with , he was on his phone and I just peed over to see what he could possibly do .

That's so important than being present in the meeting .

And he was on Instagram and I was just amazed , I , I am so glad that I don't have it and it has no hold over me .

It has no control over me because it's not even part of my life .

And I'm so proud to say that because it's honestly changed my life in so many positive and crazy ways that I couldn't even imagine .

Now you're probably wondering how I deleted it because some of you are probably like , I don't think I could just up and delete my Instagram tomorrow and be totally fine .

You might have some withdrawals or something if you are someone that uses it quite often or quite frequently .

Um But my desire for improving myself and becoming a greater version of myself was so strong at that point and still is today that , that made the decision to leave Instagram easier for me .

I was like , I want to be a person that's Xy and Z .

I want this , this and this in my life .

And Instagram , if it's not helping me with Xy and Z , then it's out the door .

I was kind of at the point where I was like , you know what I'm going to focus on developing myself and becoming the person that I want to be and Instagram is not helping .

So , see ya .

And that's kind of what I did .

And I believe that if you have a desire to become a greater version of yourself or to discover yourself or to become all that you want to be not who you feel like you should be .

That if you can make that desire super strong within yourself and you really want it , I think you could do it too .

In fact , I know you could do it .

You could delete Instagram right now or whatever your social , maybe it's youtube , whatever that social outlet is that you turn to all the time or that consumes a lot of your time , you can get rid of it and be just fine .

In fact , you can be better than you've ever been before .

And I know that because I've experienced it and my hope is that this video might be able to help one of you that's kind of on the fence about it to let you know that it's ok .

And there are such amazing experiences to be had outside of your phone and outside of your Instagram and these moments and these experiences and these relationships you can strengthen and grow .

It's indescribable .

It's honestly one of the greatest feelings you could ever ask for in the entire world .

It's created lasting and real happiness in my life .

And I would not trade it for the world .

I will not go back .

Even if someone were to offer me a whole large chunk of money or something , I still wouldn't go back to it because I am just so content with who I am now and where I am in my life and where I'm headed that it's not worth it to me another way .

How I deleted it was my husband .

So he had Instagram too at the time and he hardly ever used it .

Like he , he posted maybe once a year if that like he hardly ever used it .

And so he just kind of like I find getting rid of it .

So it made it a lot easier because I wasn't like feeling I was missing out .

We kind of just did it together and it was super easy for him because he never used it and it made it easier for me because I was like , oh , he's fine without it .

Like it'll be pretty easy .

And so a lot better to have someone that did it with me .

And so if you need that support or that person that's done it before to go through the process with you or to help you out when you're feeling like what I'm supposed to do instead of being worried about what other people are doing .

There's so much you can do and I have so much experience with this and I can totally help you out with that .

Um If you're wanting .

So let me know in the comments , if you're like , I want to do it , but I want some support then I'd love to talk with you and I'd love to help you out in some way , shape or form .

Um But yeah , I didn't do it by myself .

He did it with me and he was a huge help in that process and having someone that supports you and has a common goal is huge because it makes it that much simpler to achieve that goal .

And once you do it opens up the door to so many amazing opportunities that you maybe never even thought of could be possible .

All right , to wrap this video up .

I wanted to lastly share with you what deleting Instagram has done for my life today .

And I can honestly say it's like being a child again , almost like you remember those days where you just didn't worry about what was going on .

You didn't worry about what other people thought you were focused on what you're going to be doing later on in the day and not what um Julie and her dog and your neighbors are going to be doing for the rest of the day .

You kind of just like a little bit worry free .

Of course , I still have everyday worries of from my daily life and everything , but the extra worry and extra need for consumption of Instagram isn't there .

So it's like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders .

And I don't have to worry about it anymore and it strengthened my relationship with my husband .

We spend so much more quality time together when our phones don't have to be present .

The other night , we were at dinner .

This is really funny .

We were at dinner and we were the only couple that was just the two of us that weren't on our phones .

And it was funny because people were staring at us like , what do they even talk about without their phone ?

There was a couple sitting next to us that , um , they were both on their phones , like the entire time waiting for their food .

And she was like , every time I look up , she'd be staring at me and then she'd hurry and look down .

But I'm like , she's probably wondering what we're talking about because my husband and I can just have conversation flow and we can get into deep conversations and it's simple for us .

We don't need our phones to distract us or to break awkward silence or to just like , take some of our attention away .

We can fully be engaged with each other and there can be silence even and we feel fine , we're comfortable with it and it's honestly helped our relationship .

And I like to be that example for other people and be like , hey , look , you don't have to have your phone out at dinner 24 7 .

You can have a nice conversation and a nice relaxing evening without your phone , you can take a break from it and it is ok .

In fact , it's healthy .

In fact , it is better than having your phone with you .

I would say not having Instagram , I truly believe has helped me develop into the person that I am today because I do not waste my time on social media .

I have Facebook but I hardly ever use it .

Um I have youtube , obviously , I'm just starting to post videos on here because people are more curious about how I got to the point that I'm at right now .

So that's why I do this now , but I don't have that extra baggage of Instagram .

And I don't feel like I need to be on my phone .

I don't feel like I have to check um Instagram or social media whatsoever .

And so it's freed up a lot of my time and it's allowed me to become more productive , which created more fulfillment in my life , which helped me find my purpose and it helped me discover myself and it helps me help others do the same thing .

So honestly , it's just , it's created me into the person that I am today .

And I'm so grateful for the decisions I made three years ago because if I hadn't done that about three years ago , there is no way that I'd be where I am today .

So follow your gut .

And if you feel like maybe you have some habits around your phone that you should get right over .

They're unhealthy .

I actually have created a quiz and over 2000 people have taken this quiz now .

It's kind of crazy , but it's to find out what kind of phone habits you developed .

So you can find out if they're toxic if you have healthy ones or whatever it is in between .

I'll link that in the description below if you want to take the quiz to gain more awareness of your phone habits .

So you can kind of see where you are right now with your relationship with your phone it all today for this video .

Um I hope you found it insightful or eye opening or anything of the above .

I hope that it inspired you in some way or that maybe it raised some questions in your own mind and if you have any questions at all , I'd love you to drop them down in the description below or if any of you have deleted your Instagram as well .

And you've found the same peace and happiness that I have .

Then let me know in the comments below .

Hello , fellow Instagram , non Instagrammers .

And if you haven't already be sure to subscribe to my channel for more videos similar to this and I will talk to you very , very soon .

Have a wonderful , wonderful day .