Mindset Lessons You Can Apply to Instagram

Does day-to-day operations on your Instagram business account ever make you feel like you’re getting sucked into a rat-race hustle?

Our entrepreneurial culture is infused with a take-quick-actions-to fail-fast-and-learn mentality. Having an Instagram algorithm that rewards fast engagement and posting frequency reinforces such a mentality.

But does this mentality really serve us? Patience and reflection is another possible mindset we can adopt. Not sure it will work out? Think it will cut into your productivity and bottom line?

If so, then perhaps these mindset lessons from the very productive and esteemed Tim Ferriss can sway you to try another way for a while, just to see what happens.

Stay true to Yourself

According to Business Insider, one huge lesson author and entrepreneur Tim Ferriss learned is that, “you can start your own business and put handcuffs on yourself if you decide to be someone you aren’t.” [1]

With trending memes and Reels dances abounding, establishing Instagram goals for yourself and your company helps you stay true to yourself.

What are your Instagram goals? What kind of content are you willing to post or not? What metrics of success are most important for you?

Revisit your vision and mission statement consistently. Develop brand and style guides if you don’t have them in place for your business. If you do, tailor them to Instagram.

Diversify

Another lesson Ferriss learned is that “100% dedication can lead to a disaster in the sense that you have all of your psychological eggs in one basket.” [1]

Instagram can be a roller coaster of emotions if your success is tied solely to Instagram metrics. You will feel amazing when a post performs well but low when another does not, energized from gaining lots of followers and then unproductive when you lose followers.

Tracking how well you stay true to your content goals, internal business operations, or even hobby progress alongside your Instagram performance gives you a sustainable sense of fulfillment. If you can’t get a win in one area, always give yourself a way to have a win in another area.

Building and sustaining momentum is huge for business and the same for Instagram. You already have a lot of your energy taken up from your other demands and pressures each day. It’s up to you to put processes in place to be able to weather the storms that inevitably come.

Take your Time

A third lesson Tim Learned was that, “You can take some time and disappear to do deep thinking. You can opt-out for a week. You can escape and be a hermit for a while. Then when you’re ready to come back and reenter the world, you can continue where you left off.” [1]

When the prevailing advice on Instagram is to post more and be constantly be plugged in so you don’t have FOMO, which often leads to burnout or compromising post quality, this lesson is a breath of fresh air.

Especially if you’re building a true community, and offer them valuable content when you do show up,, they will understand and stick around. As Tim puts it, “If you’re different enough, the time pressure, resource pressure and sense of urgency or rush to accomplish your long-term goals tend to go away.” [1]

Take your Time was a lesson first articulated in Ferrisss’s book, The 4-Hour Workweek, “It is unsustainable, just as what most define as a career: doing the same thing for 8+ hours per day until you break down or have enough cash to permanently stop….By working only when you are most effective, life is both more productive and more enjoyable.” [2]

Conclusion

So, the next time you find yourself in an overwhelming situation at work, in your business, or on Instagram, try to:

• Stay true to yourself and your business values
• Diversify your tasks in order to be able to bring yourself up and give you quick wins when other losses naturally come along
• Take your Time and resist the urge to do more faster and concentrate on quality over quantity.

Which of these lessons resonate most for you?

References

[1] Bloom, Noelle. 2017. “10 Lessons from Tim Ferriss That Took Him a Decade to Learn.” Business Insider. Business Insider. May 14, 2017. https://www.businessinsider.com/10-lessons-from-tim-ferriss-that-took-him-a-decade-to-learn-2017-5. Accessed December 28, 2020.

[2] Ferriss, Timothy. 2007. The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9–5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. New York, New York: Crown Publishing Group P. 32.