After an on-and-off relationship with Instagram (mostly off), I’ve decided to take it seriously as a creator and educator. But doing that means confronting my baggage. Today’s episode is about what I’m doing this month to shift my mindset while trying to make it fun, too.

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In last week's podcast episode, I mentioned that I was feeling a bit like a

broken record, and it looks like today I am at it again

because I am talking about Instagram today

again. So almost a year ago in, I think it was episode

5 of the podcast, I shared about my on-again,

off-again relationship with the app as a business owner, as someone

actually putting out content, and I guess also as a consumer.

But one of my big sort of lingering beliefs was

this whole idea of, I'm just not good at this.

And at the time, about a year ago, I said, I'm going to commit to

give it a real shot, only to find myself back off

again a few months later and sort of shared an update about how I

was getting off of social media, feeling much better. And then I had this creator

dilemma. Well, we're talking about it again today because I am

back on only. This time I'm actually approaching

it with a different mindset. So I'll get into what has

changed and how I'm actually looking, my perspective shift. Plus I'm

also trying out a new way to make it sort of fun and satisfying,

even when progress feels slow, or I can, I can kind of

tell that I am dragging my heels a little bit with it.

And I am noticing a difference with that. So I will share what is working

there. Oh, and If you are new here, welcome.

I am Kat, and on this podcast, I am sharing behind the scenes as I

try just real-time experiments to help me find my

follow-through and momentum on what really matters so that I can

reach an audience as a speaker and a writer. All right,

so today, let's get into it. And

upfront, I just want to say that I have been pretty open that I have

a lot of baggage with Instagram. And that means I just

have a lot of this mindset junk around, you are not good at

this. Anytime you try this, you never get any traction. You've been kind of

stuck in this jail where your videos don't

get any reach and you don't grow your subscribers, et cetera. So I just,

I have a lot of junk based on early days back in

2018, '19, and '20, where I was

genuinely putting effort into it. I was doing the things you're supposed to do

and just not seeing any traction, not seeing very any results. And I felt very

frustrated cuz I was following the formula. And then

I took a big old break for many, many years where I just focused on

YouTube. I was like, YouTube works. I will stick to this. Now, more

recently, I did grapple with something that, and I

called it the creator dilemma, but, and I wrote about this recently because

I was on a podcast episode and Mike, the host,

had been in my Immunity to Change session in June

and unpacked this assumption of,

wait, if I am not a fan of social media as far as

the damage it can do, does that make me a hypocrite if

I'm putting content out there? And I was sort of grappling with this

in the spring around how do I balance putting content out on a

platform that I know I am better mentally when I

spend less time on it? And so am I part of the

problem. So this idea, I think when I spoke on this

podcast and the way he put it, I just realized, oh, that is one of

my problems as well. Now, what has helped me is that in

the recent months, I have had conversations with

people who are, they're active on Instagram. They are

consistent and they just, it works really well for getting their message out.

And honestly, for running a business as a creator. So they,

they kind of challenged me and helped me to start looking at Instagram differently.

For example, when I brought this up in conversation, this kind of, am I part

of the problem? Like, should I even be on there? I'm not sure it's a

good or healthy thing. And one of them said,

okay, so you think that it's better if people are on there

less. However, if you're not on there to get your

message out about what they should be spending their time on, or at least encouraging

them to focus on things that matter to them, but you're not

reaching any of the people who are on this app. And so they just kind

of flipped it as, you know, if I stay off there, that's fine, that's my

prerogative, I can do that. But it does mean that there are people who are

already on there and they will not hear my message for sure because

I am not showing up there. And there are people who have chosen to do

this, and there are other ways to get your message out there. It's not the

only way. But I did realize there are a lot of people on there that

probably could benefit from the things that I am

sharing and talking about. So that really did kind of help push

back a little bit on this whole idea. And it started to make me think

it's important to meet people where they are. And I know there are people on

Instagram who could benefit. So

what am I doing differently now? Now that I have, I've made a

deliberate choice to say, I'm going to give this an honest try. And I am

not going to just bounce as soon as I feel like that's not working.

So let's break it into my framework around, okay, method.

So first of all, I am focusing my attention

on learning from people who know what they're doing, whether that is people I

personally know who can actually give advice and say, here

is what I have found works, and watching their videos and learning from

them. That has been extremely helpful. I also have been

learning from people in a structured way around Here are

different examples. Here's why it works. And here are

ways that you can have variations on it. And so I've actually been

sort of taking notes and sort of gathering a bunch of different things that

are known to work on Instagram. For example, different ways to

catch someone's attention and stop the scroll, because if they don't ever stop,

then they're not going to listen. So what can work? And I'm

trying out different types and recommendations of posts. Whether

that is talking head versus, you know, a post with some

text music, et cetera. So I'm, I'm trying out a variety of different things and

noticing what resonates, what doesn't. Now that's kind of my

method. Mode, this is all about me

helping my brain follow through on the method I've chosen. And

so one of those things that I'm doing is actually a visual

tracker. And I do, I have a photo if you're watching. If you're not,

actually, I have a, I have a little video on my Instagram, um, showing

this, but I have a big Post-it note. It's a Post-it

note poster that I have actually divided into 5 weeks

and there are 6, 6 grids, I guess, or

6 different slots for each week. Make it basically, I want to

post 6 days out of 7 on the app for

the next 5 weeks as a way to just start to get into the rhythm.

Also, that's about the limit of Post-it note poster, but then I use

small Post-it notes that are color-coded, and every time I publish, I get to

put one of those up there. What this does for my brain,

first of all, my brain loves this kind of thing, and I've kept it simple

enough. There are only 4 different types that I have, or

4 different colors, and the example is that I have

a, you know, a real sort of talking head. I have, if it's more of

a B-roll, so just showing, your video or

a photo to music, maybe with some text. There's also if

it's a carousel or graphic. And then finally, the last one, which I

just added recently, is if I do clips from this podcast

and I get to put those up each day. So that is something that I

have found is actually really, really delightful for me.

And I think the reason why is that one, I love

Post-its and stationery and color coding things. But

also it's right in my eyeline, or at least as soon as I turn

my head to walk out of this studio/home office, I see

it. So I am confronted with it. I'm making it visible, which is a really

great strategy for kind of keeping habits. But the

other thing I'm doing in addition to that is I reached out to some folks

in a community that I'm in of other people who are also making content

and said, anyone wanna do a popup challenge? I'm starting on this

day, doing this for 5 weeks. Is anyone else interested? And there are about

8 of us now that are in this WhatsApp group. And so every time we

post, we just share our progress and say, share that it's posted.

And that has been really beneficial because I noticed last

weekend I had done 5 of my 6 posts and I could tell

that I was trying to rationalize and push it off. And then when I thought

about not just the tracker, but also the group, I wanted to do the thing

I said I would do. And so having that, that kind of pop-up accountability

is definitely something that has helped me. Now the final

area, which is the biggest and most important area for me, is how I'm working

on my mindset. These are the things that I am finding helpful.

One is it is going to take time. This is a

long game. And sure, there are people who have kind of blown up in a

few months, et cetera, but I'm not expecting that. Those are usually the

exceptions. And so this is something that needs to take time. So time, not just

for me. to figure out what's going on. Well, no,

actually that is most of the time. It's for me to put in the reps

and actually figure out what works, what lands, lean into what works.

And the other big mindset piece is just embrace the

cringe. And this is helping so far

that I am putting out content, even if I'm just like, ah, this is not

where I want it to be. But I am still working on this because I

know that through, through what I've studied and what I'm learning from people,

A call to action at the end of just some sort of action, if that

is a save this post, like it, comment, or

whatever the call to action is, those still

feel awkward to me. And I am,

I noticed that that is actually one of the areas where I resist the

most. I'm okay to try and embrace a hook or something that

opens people's curiosity so they'll keep listening. That feels more comfortable

to me. But the call to action at the end, I think it's because

it sort of feels formulaic. However, there are times where I've tried it

and people, it has been effective. And I'm noticing that

me, when I am looking at other people's content, there are times

where when they actually say, oh, the other one, the one that I think I

struggle with the most is if you want more of blah, blah, blah, follow me.

That's the one where I think I'm struggling

with the follow me for more. Because I

haven't like precisely defined what it is that they're going to get. And I,

I, I think it has to do with like finding your follow-through, but I have

to just start practicing. And these are the things that I'm trying to overcome.

And then the final mindset piece that is really helping

me to take this, I think more seriously, is this idea of

lean into what works for this platform.

Because each platform has their own algorithm, their own things that

work and don't work. Also, it's constantly changing. So that's fun. But

I am in, I'm in a group run by my friend Jessica Lackey,

and she recently shared a concept that she learned from

Russell Nolte. And it is about committing

to doing what works on the platform. If that's what you

want, if you want to be on that platform, commit to what works

and use the analogy. Don't show up to a basketball court

with a tennis racket and then complain or be upset that you aren't scoring

any points. And I think I am guilty of this where I

want to sort of buck a trend and not do what you are supposed to

do or told to do. And I think part of this is just almost protecting

myself of then I have an excuse if it doesn't work. Whereas if I

actually give it an honest try and it doesn't work, then maybe it means that

I just can't do this. Whereas by kind of like

half-assing it, I was giving myself an excuse for when it doesn't

work. And when you actually give it your all, then

it, if it doesn't work, then it's a little bit harder. I think at least

that's— no, it is. It's harder cuz you give it the honest try

and if it just doesn't go well, then you feel like, okay, I

actually am not good at this. I can't figure this out. But that is a

limiting belief. The other thing, the thing that I really love too

about that metaphor and this idea of show up to

the game. Mm-hmm. Knowing which game you're playing. And

it also— and then don't complain when you try to play a

different game and it doesn't work. And it does remind me of a

different quote I heard recently from my friend. So

my friend Heather Ramirez said recently, and this quote is

just on repeat in my brain right now, it's like going into the

sauna, then complaining that it's hot.

In other words, if you are choosing to put yourself in an environment or situation

only to then complain about the circumstances that you chose, like,

what are you even doing? It's a powerful reminder to me that if

you've chosen to enter and figure out you don't like it, well, you can choose

to leave, or you can choose to stay and

embrace what actually works. And it might not feel comfortable right

away, but you don't choose that just so it's comfortable.

You choose it because of the potential benefits. if you actually

stay and commit to doing what works. To me,

that has, it's so helpful because I do think I've been guilty of this

in the past when, and I said, you know, it's, I've had a tumultuous

relationship and sometimes I say I'm doing what works, but I'm,

I'm only half-hearted and not fully leaning into it.

And I think that's partially a protective mechanism of

if I actually try this, like what if, what if I still fail and I

just cannot figure this out? And I don't really want that. So anytime I

just don't fully show up, I think it's a form of protection.

So these are the things I'm doing. I will admit

it still feels uncomfortable to try to follow

what works. I'm putting that in air quotes because I don't

also— I feel a resistance to following a formula,

but there are ways to personalize it, the ways to make it

authentic. But I really like this, this mindset

of show up to the game and play the game that you've entered and

don't expect different results by playing something different. Um, the

other is that the, the tr— honestly, the tracker thing

working pretty well right now. And I am finding just that

the putting in the reps by just saying, just post something

and it just, as long as you get a little bit better every day, you

don't have to nail this in. 5 weeks and also this is just an

on-ramp to get me started. And then I also want to think about what does

this look like longer term? How do I keep this going? Because for me, a

visual tracker doesn't work forever. It will start to blend into the background and I

will kind of stop seeing it. So I do want to find

a way for this to be something that I maintain, but I also just don't

want to give up on learning. All right.

Tracker time. Got my public tracker and I did take some

time yesterday. It was the first of a new month, so I went back and

looked at all of August, and then

I also, uh, added my new September month. So let's take

a look at the tracker, and if you are listening, I

will read it out to you. So my monthly tracking, if, if, if in case

you are not familiar with this, I am publicly

tracking my, my posts, my outreach, and

then ultimately how many people I'm reaching with my message because my goal is to

reach 1 million people through speaking and writing. And so

the first thing I do is track the things I have the most control over,

and that is posting, actually trying to get the message out.

And if we look back at the full month of August that just wrapped

up, my goal was to post 20 times, and

I actually ended up posting 22. It was a rough

start at the start of the month, but I did actually

get there, and it's because I've been much more consistent over the last

week and a bit. And also posting on more than one platform.

So 22 posts when you combine my

podcast, my Substack, Instagram, and then did a couple on

LinkedIn. Now this month,

September, I am going to set the goal of

25. So last one was 20 because I hit 22. I'm now

setting a goal of 25. If you think about the fact that I'm,

I'm committing to 6 out of 7 days a week on Instagram, I should

easily meet this, but I still just wanted to keep it.

incremental and not go, not go nuts.

The, if we look at outreach, okay, so for the month of August for

outreach, my goal was 40. It was quite aggressive to start because I just

wanted to start reaching out to people, even if it was just kind of reconnecting

with people that I haven't spoken to. I ended up reaching out

to 39 people, so 97%

of my goal, which I'm actually pretty happy with. I also think

40 was really ambitious, so I've started to right-size that a little

bit and I have changed for September. September where my goal is going to be

25 people to connect with, reach out to,

and this is particularly around speaking opportunities and

appearances. If we look at outreach results for

the month of August, now last week I accidentally double

counted something when I was updating the tracker. So I thought that I had 4

appearances, but I had already counted a podcast

that had been released recently. So I adjusted that back to the

true appearances. I did 3 appearances in the month of August.

And I booked 3 speaking gigs. Now that the booked means

they were confirmed and there's a date set, doesn't necessarily mean that's

when they happen. For example, in August,

one of those booked speaking gigs I did yesterday, which is

September 1st, but it doesn't count towards September

because it's already recognized as booked in there. And so I don't

know if that's a flaw in my tracker, of actually

completing the speaking gig, which is different to me. Appearance

is something where I can't count how many people saw it. So whether that is

a podcast appearance where I don't know how

many people are going to listen, or it could be something like I did a

webinar with Senja and I consider that an appearance. I don't know how many people

are actually going to, to watch that. Whereas a speaking gig is that

there I am speaking in front of an audience. It can be paid or unpaid,

but it is a defined, you are coming in to speak to this group.

And yesterday was one of those, so it doesn't count as an appearance.

This, I, I might need to do a little bit of tweaking and adjustments with

how I actually track this. Then the final thing on my tracker

is looking at outcomes, which I have the least control over, but I am keeping

track of them. And for, for

August, audience members, meaning countable audience members,

uh, 33. And new subscribers was 87.

I'm still working on how I make the adjustments for

people who leave the list, not just people who join.

But September, yesterday, the talk that I did had

100 people on a Zoom call, which is pretty

incredible for a community. I've spoken to a lot of communities,

and usually it's, you know, it can be really small, say 6

or 7 people. Sometimes it's a little bigger of 15 or 20.

I think the biggest one I had before was about 30 people live.

100 people live, that is a very engaged group

and it was incredible. They were, they were amazing. I was very,

yesterday was great, which is also really nice because last week I

shared that, um, I was having one of those weeks where it was the roller

coaster and I was kind of on some of those down. And so having this

group yesterday who was just so responsive, just lovely

engaged audience who had wonderful things to say

was a real boost. It's sort of the roller coaster going back up

again. Uh, so that was a really nice session that I had, but I will,

I'll keep doing the tracker. I'm going to keep doing the outreach, keep doing the

posting. I will also report back on how

some of these changes towards the end of the month, how they went with this,

the experiment that I'm doing with Instagram. And I mean,

I'm saying long game, so I'm not planning to just only do this for a

month, but for the short term, some of the techniques I'm using,

uh, seem to be effective so far, but we'll actually see how do they

last over the full 5 weeks. And next week I'm sharing

a slightly different, more speaking engagement focused experiment

that'll be kicking off this month, this September, but I will save

the details for that next week, but I am doing the work,

showing up and sharing with you the real behind the scenes of

what it's like to try to reach a million people through speaking,

writing, and ultimately find my momentum.