THE GREAT CLEANOUT: Why I’m Done Collecting Followers and Starting to Collect REAL ONES

Sometimes You Have to Clean House to See Who Was Really Standing Beside You

There’s something funny happening in the cannabis community right now.

Maybe it’s happening in your circle, too.

People who have been doing this long enough are starting to look around and ask some uncomfortable questions:

Who are my friends? Who actually supports me? Who is genuine? And who has been standing beside me with a smile while secretly hoping I fall?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because, strangely enough, I keep seeing other people in the community going through the exact same thing.

Different people. Different situations. Different parts of the industry.

But somehow…the same story.

People are reevaluating their friendships. They’re examining their followers. They’re questioning people they once trusted. They’re realizing that having a huge audience doesn’t necessarily mean having a great audience.

And honestly?

I get it.

Because I’m doing the same thing.

I’m cleaning house.

Not because I suddenly hate people.

Not because I think everybody is against me.

And definitely not because this is about one particular person.

It isn’t.

There are simply too many people out there who seem to thrive on drama, negativity, jealousy, division and sabotage. Some people seem to have made spreading bad energy into a full-time job.

And I’ve finally reached the point where I’m asking myself:

Why am I allowing these people into my space?

I DON’T NEED ANOTHER FOLLOWER

For years, we’ve been taught that numbers matter.

More followers.

More friends.

More likes.

More views.

More people on your list.

But I’m starting to look at that completely differently.

I don’t care about having thousands of people following me if half of them are carrying negative energy into my world.

What good is a massive following if you have to constantly wonder who is secretly rooting against you?

Anybody can accept everybody.

Anybody can build a giant friend list.

Anybody can chase numbers.

But building a quality community?

That’s different.

I would rather have 500 real ones than 50,000 people who are watching just to wait for me to screw up.

The people I want around me are the people who are genuinely happy when somebody else succeeds.

They celebrate another person’s accomplishments instead of becoming jealous.

They support instead of sabotage.

They encourage instead of criticize.

They help instead of hinder.

They understand that somebody else’s success doesn’t take anything away from their own.

Those are my people.

Those are the people I want beside me.

MISERY REALLY DOES LOVE COMPANY

There’s an old saying:

Misery loves company.

The older I get, the more truth I see in it.

Some people are so unhappy with their own lives that somebody else’s happiness actually bothers them.

Think about that.

You can be doing absolutely nothing to them, minding your own business, working on your goals, building your brand, helping other people and enjoying your life—and somehow your happiness becomes offensive to somebody.

They don’t want to see you succeed.

They don’t want to see you grow.

They don’t want to see you surrounded by good people.

They want you frustrated.

They want you angry.

They want you distracted.

And sometimes, they want to see you fail.

That’s when you have to recognize what you’re dealing with.

Because a person who spends their time spreading negativity isn’t taking something away from you.

They are revealing something about themselves.

THE WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

One of the hardest lessons to learn is that not everybody who smiles at you is your friend.

Some people are incredibly good at pretending.

They’ll tell you they support you.

They’ll like your posts.

They’ll comment.

They’ll shake your hand.

They’ll tell you how much they love what you’re doing.

But underneath that surface can be jealousy, resentment, competition or an agenda you never saw coming.

That’s what makes these situations so frustrating.

You want to believe people are good.

I’ve always believed that people deserve the opportunity to show me who they are for themselves.

But I’m changing my approach.

Trust is no longer automatic.

Trust has to be earned.

And once somebody demonstrates that they can’t be trusted, I’m not going to keep giving them opportunity after opportunity to prove it again.

Life is too short.

NEGATIVITY IS CONTAGIOUS

Here’s something else I’ve had to admit to myself:

These people have been affecting me.

And I don’t like that.

I can tell myself all day long that I shouldn’t care.

I can say, “Ignore them.”

I can say, “Don’t let them get under your skin.”

But when you repeatedly encounter negativity, eventually some of it starts sticking to you.

And that’s exactly what I want to stop.

I don’t want somebody else’s miserable attitude changing my mood.

I don’t want jealous people occupying space in my head.

I don’t want drama interfering with my creativity.

I don’t want anonymous reports, negativity, personal attacks or attempts at sabotage becoming distractions from the things I’m actually trying to accomplish.

Why give somebody that kind of power?

They don’t deserve it.

SO I’M CLEANING HOUSE

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going through my accounts.

And yes, people are going to disappear.

Some will be deleted.

Some will be blocked.

And some may eventually wonder what happened.

The answer is simple:

I’m protecting my peace.

This isn’t about follower counts anymore.

This isn’t about trying to make everybody happy.

This isn’t about keeping somebody around because deleting them might cost me a follower.

If someone brings nothing but negativity into my world, why would I keep giving them a front-row seat?

I’m not running a popularity contest.

I’m building a community.

And there’s a difference.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

I want the people around me to understand something:

When you support another person, you don’t become smaller.

When somebody else gets a win, you haven’t lost.

When another creator gets attention, it doesn’t mean there isn’t enough attention left for you.

When another business succeeds, it doesn’t mean yours can’t succeed too.

There is room for all of us.

That’s the mentality I want in my circle.

I want people who understand that we are stronger together.

People who share opportunities.

People who promote each other.

People who recommend each other.

People who celebrate each other’s victories.

People who can look at somebody else’s success and say:

“Hell yeah! Good for them!”

Those are the real ones.

And those are the people I’m surrounding myself with.

AND IF YOU’RE STILL HERE…

So here’s the funny part.

When this great cleanout is finished, some people will still be here.

And if you are one of them?

Congratulations.

You made the cut.

😂

If you’re still on my Facebook after I’ve gone through everything, you can take that as a pretty good sign that I consider you one of the people who brings something positive to the table.

You’re not there because I need another number.

You’re there because I believe you’re genuine.

You’re there because I see you supporting people.

You’re there because you understand what this community is supposed to be about.

And if somebody gets deleted or blocked?

Well…

Maybe that’s an opportunity for some self-reflection.

Instead of getting angry about being removed from somebody’s social media, maybe ask yourself why you were removed.

Maybe the problem isn’t always everybody else.

Sometimes we have to look in the mirror.

THIS IS BIGGER THAN ME

And that’s ultimately why I wanted to write about this.

Because I don’t think I’m the only person feeling this way.

I think a lot of people are reaching a breaking point.

Creators.

Business owners.

Growers.

Reviewers.

Vendors.

Community members.

People who have spent years building something they care about are finally realizing that protecting what they’ve built is just as important as building it.

And sometimes protecting your community means making difficult decisions about who gets access to it.

That doesn’t make you cruel.

It doesn’t make you arrogant.

It doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten where you came from.

Sometimes it simply means you’ve finally learned that your peace has value.

KEEP SMILING

So to the real ones:

Keep smiling.

Keep creating.

Keep supporting.

Keep helping each other.

Keep celebrating the victories.

Keep lifting people up.

Keep enjoying your life.

Because one of the best ways to defeat negativity is refusing to become negative yourself.

Don’t let somebody else’s bitterness turn you bitter.

Don’t let their jealousy make you jealous.

Don’t let their hatred make you hateful.

And whatever you do…

Don’t let the people who want to see you fail become the reason you stop succeeding.

Let them talk.

Let them complain.

Let them watch.

Let them wonder.

You keep moving.

Because while they’re busy trying to tear people down, we’re going to keep building.

And that’s the difference between us.

I’m not interested in collecting people anymore.

I’m interested in surrounding myself with real ones.

So if you’re one of those people who genuinely wants to see others win, congratulations.

You’re exactly where you belong.

And if you’re somebody who spends your days spreading negativity, creating drama, sabotaging other people’s work, or pretending to support people while secretly hoping they fail…

Well, you might want to enjoy the view while you still have it.

The great cleanout has officially begun.

And this time, I’m choosing quality over quantity.

Real recognizes real.

And the rest?

Can find the door.