Is Social Media making you anxious?
So you want to build your online presence. You want to create value. You want to build influence and create impact either as a leader, as a team member, or as an organization. Maybe you want to go beyond and generate leads that convert to customers.
Maybe that’s not why you are there and you are on it for the sheer de-stress time and scrolling through your social media platforms to unwind from work and see something that relaxes you.
Maybe you aren’t on social media and choose to run away as far away as possible from anything that looks like social media. You feel it destroys your peace of mind and sanity.
Here are the 3 reasons why social media is making you anxious:
One, if you are someone who posts consistently, you feel you don’t get enough likes, comments, or shares. This destroys your sense of self-worth and you feel not loved enough, or you feel you are doing something wrong and don’t know what it is that you are doing wrong.
Here is news for you. Facebook may not be encouraging organic growth as much as it previously did — so only a small fraction of your connections get to see your posts unless you boost it through paid advertisements. So don’t equate your self-worth with how many likes you have on your posts.
In other platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram & YouTube while organic growth is perhaps a little easier, perhaps you need to do some R&D on each platform to see how to increase your reach and build relevant connections who love what you are creating and are relevant to the work you do either as your target audience or professionals whose services might complement the work you do.
Two, you see people in your immediate network posting content and getting likes and comments on their posts. You start comparing yourself to them and immediately start experiencing low self-worth. You experience any of the following range of emotions: Jealousy or low self-esteem. You even decide to follow them and copy their content.
You need to remember people rarely post their failures on social media. So if they look happy, don’t assume that they have a rocking life. They probably have a lot of stuff going on in the background, which they are rising above to be social and to deliver value.
Here is where the following note to self will help you: “Mind Your Own Business”. Let others do what they are doing to grow. You focus on you. You focus on your growth. I know it’s easier said than done. But try practicing it for your sake. If all else fails, take a few deep breaths, drink a glass of water, and bring the focus back to you. The less energy you spend on them — the more energy you spend on building you and your dream.
Three, you have played your best through organic growth and now things aren’t moving. You have plateaued. The energy of your followers, subscribers, the community is stagnant or not growing. This is making you feel stuck.
To break the energy, you can step up your game and see how you can deliver more value, bring unique insights to the table, and also invest in learning how these platforms work to break through the stagnant energy.
In a nutshell, whether you are experiencing low self-esteem, a lack of self-worth, are comparing your growth with that of another or you are just feeling stuck, you need to work on your leadership mindset by bringing the focus back to you, and the value, impact, and results you wish to create for those you serve.
On an action level, you need to build the right knowledge and skillset to navigate the platform you wish to grow. So do the R&D you need to, to see how you can scale up your social media reach on the platform you plan to focus on. The more knowledge you have, the more equipped you are. But knowledge without action is empty wisdom, and you have to implement what you learn to get your breakthrough.
I wish more success to each Leader, each Team Member, each Organization, and each Business. Keep striving! Keep evolving! Keep shining!
If you resonated with this, please share this with the person who you feel needs to read or hear this the most.
Cheers,
Namrata Vishwanath
If you are a Corporate/Business Leader or Executive and would like to learn how to build your career, teams, and business through building a leadership mindset and skills, please join the Leader by Design Hub & click on the link for more information: https://linktr.ee/namratavishwanath