Real - by Alexis Zahner (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Who are you beneath the filter?

Social media is stealing your time. Even worse, it's reshaping your sense of self. You scroll, compare and perform, then wonder why even your biggest achievements leave you feeling hollow. But you don't have to quit the digital world to enjoy living in the real one. And understanding why you feel so disconnected from yourself is the first step towards reclaiming the things you love.

Real blends cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain how social media challenges and disrupts your identity -- and how you can reclaim it. Author Alexis Zahner is a business psychology expert, podcast host and self-confessed tech addict who has spent two decades inside the very platforms she writes about. Drawing on her own messy, honest journey back to herself, Alexis doesn't lecture. She gives you a practical framework for understanding your online habits and rebuilding a relationship with social media that works for you.

• Discover how dopamine loops and algorithms shape your behavior and learn how you can interrupt the cycle
• Understand how your online identity fragments over time and how to reconnect with your whole self
• Set personalised digital boundaries that protect your mental health and wellbeing without cutting you off from the world
• Navigate parasocial relationships, comparison culture and illusions of credibility with confidence
• Build rituals anchored to your real self, creating lasting change that goes far deeper than a detox

Complete with journaling prompts, self-assessments and reflection exercises, Real is as practical as it is illuminating. For anyone tired of living in the likes, suggested posts, sponsored ads and curated highlights, this book will change how you see your feed. Most importantly, it will change how you see the real you.

From the Back Cover

Who are you beneath the filter?

Social media is stealing your time. Even worse, it's reshaping your sense of self: you scroll, compare and perform, then wonder why even your biggest achievements leave you feeling hollow. Real blends cutting-edge psychology and neuroscience to explain how social media disrupts your identity, and how you can reclaim it. You don't have to quit the digital world to enjoy living in the real one.

Alexis Zahner is a business psychology and marketing expert, podcast host and self-confessed millennial tech addict who has spent 15 years inside the platforms she writes about. In Real she draws on her own honest and sometimes messy journey to give you a hands-on framework for rebuilding your relationship with social media in a way that works for you.

This is not another 'get off your phone' lecture. Discover how to:

• interrupt the algorithms shaping your behaviour
• set digital boundaries that protect your identity and mental health
• navigate comparison culture with confidence
• mend your toxic relationship with social media
• reconnect with your whole self.

Complete with journaling prompts, self-assessments and reflection l exercises, Real is a practical guide for breaking free from the influence of social media.

'A compelling look into how we've lost ourselves in social media, and the journey back.'
Jemma Sbeg, The Psychology of your 20s

About the Author

Alexis Zahner is a business psychology and marketing expert with 15 years of industry experience. She's also a millennial who's grown up with a phone in her hand--she knows this technology inside and out.