Priorities by nature shift and change over time, but I never thought of them as backtracking – although I guess that’s exactly what a mid-life crisis would entail. Maybe I’ve been going through my own mini mid-life crisis as I continue to embrace a summer of adventures that have sidelined many of my adult responsibilities.

The world of social media has opened up a lot of possibilities while allowing me to indulge my inner teen – new (motivating and inspiring) friendships, fun events and a lot of interesting content to share with my growing followers. I finally started to blog because of the opportunities coming my way. Yet were they really opportunities or were they distractions?

I couldn’t tell anymore whether or not I was furthering my career or simply finding excuses to explore this new world for the sake of it. If I were completely honest with myself, I would say it was a bit of the first and a lot of the latter. After all, it was the beginning of summer when “yes” became a predominant word in my vocabulary.

Of course, that meant saying no to a lot of other, arguably more important, things: family dates, paid work and even downtime. My older relationships started to erode as I chose to immerse myself more and more in this social media bubble. The worst was that when I did make time for family and friends, I was often buried in my phone.

I was doing more than ever and yet the cost was high with not much return – at least not at first. So it was only natural that I started thinking about my priorities. Specifically, I knew I needed to shift them yet again, but this time in a more practical and productive direction.

The start of a new month and season seem like the right time to do this. It might be incredibly cliché, but there is something innately motivating when entering a fresh cycle. The first thing I plan to do is limit time on my phone. The second will be to reevaluate the worth of what I’m doing. That could mean actually getting paid to cover an event, enjoying it because it will directly help me build my brand or, ultimately, make me a better person. After all, I’ll never say no to running.

If you’re also navigating a new path, it’s important to constantly reassess the journey. And while taking the scenic route might be a fun pursuit, it also might be working against you. There are so many other factors that make this particular issue much more complicated, but the way you approach it is utterly in your control. Don’t get swept up in the hype and know that FOMO is the dark side of the social media phenomenon.