Podcast

Episode 433: Why I’ve Always Struggled To Post Consistently On Instagram

In this episode I’m sharing why I’ve always struggled to post consistently on instagram. What I want to share with you in this episode is some of the really specific and practical things I uncovered recently in my own self-coaching about why this is something I’ve struggled with since 2014.

We perfectionists like to think if we just have more time or the perfect content calendar or a bigger audience then it’ll be easy to be consistent. But that’s simply not the case and what I share in this episode really illustrates what *really* causes us to get in our own way with social media.

I’m also going to share the real reason why it’s so easy for me to be consistent with this podcast and the perfectionism that I’m continuing to work on even though it’s very successful.

This episode is also going to give you a permission slip to trust yourself to build your business in the way you *actually* want. And an illustration of why showing up consistently doesn’t mean being perfect.

If you’ve been struggling to post consistently to social media, no matter what you do, this episode is for you.

Find the full episode transcript and show notes at samlaurabrown.com/episode433.

In This Episode You’ll Learn:

  • Why you don’t have to completely overcome perfectionism to be successful
  • How I’ve been able to build a 7 figure business without showing up perfectly
  • The real reasons it’s so easy for me to publish consistently on the podcast
  • Why I’ve always struggle to post consistently on instagram
  • The importance of being in a growth mindset versus the fixed mindset

Featured In The Episode:

Work With Me:

My program Perfectionists Getting Shit Done (aka PGSD) teaches you my proven process for becoming a productive perfectionist. It’s a 12-month program so you have all of the tools, coaching and support you need to show up consistently and achieve your 12 month business goal. Enrollment for our January 2024 cohort is happening from 8-12 December. To find out more about the program and be the first to know when the doors open, join the waitlist today: samlaurabrown.com/pgsd.

Listen To The Episode

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FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Introduction

Hi and welcome to another episode of The Perfectionism Project. A podcast full of perfectionism advice for entrepreneurs. My name is Sam Laura Brown, I help entrepreneurs release their perfectionism handbrake, so they can get out of their own way and build a fulfilling and profitable business. I’m the founder of the Perfectionist Getting Shit Done group coaching program, which is otherwise known as PGSD. And for even more perfectionism advice to help you with your business. You can follow me on Instagram @perfectionismproject.

Sam Laura Brown

In this episode, I want to share with you why I’ve always struggled to post consistently on Instagram. And just in case you’re thinking, well, Sam’s gonna say it’s perfectionism. And I already know that, obviously, perfectionism, and those thought patterns have a lot to do with it. But specifically, what I want to share with you in this episode is something that I did in my own self coaching, which was contrasting the thoughts and approach that I have to Instagram where I have struggled to be consistent, it’s just been working in those spurts of motivation, posting for a few weeks perfectly, and then hiding and retrieving and doing all of that just been so busy with procrasti-learning, versus this podcast that I have found easy and enjoyable, it has been responsible for so much of the business growth that I’ve experienced that we are at 1.9 million in total revenue, most of that has come through the podcast in some way, shape, or form.

It’s had 2.8 million downloads at this point. And it’s been a top rated podcast. And I’ve just found it easy to be consistent. And I haven’t with Instagram, and so I just want to unpack that. And I really hope that, by me sharing the way that I’m so much more growth minded with the podcast, compared with the Instagram account where I’m much more in that perfectionist mindset, I hope it can help you to really, first of all, just have some permission to build your business in the way that you want to actually build it to not be thinking you have to be on a certain platform, that it can look all different ways that it could be through word of mouth or referrals. And in person events, for example, or it could be through Pinterest, like there are so many ways besides Instagram and Tiktok or LinkedIn or whatever, to build your business.

So I hope this is just also a little permission slip in that sense. But also just by hearing the way that I’m thinking about the podcast versus the way I’m thinking about Instagram, I hope it helps you identify where you might be operating in that more perfectionist way like I am with Instagram, and help you see practically speaking, how to think about what you’re doing when it comes to creating content so that you can have an easy, enjoyable, profitable fulfilling experience, because that’s certainly what I have had. With the podcast, there have been challenges that have been things that come up along the way. But really, for the most part, I love podcasting. I would fight for this podcast so hard if someone tried to take it away from me versus Instagram.

I’m always thinking about do I really need to do it? Can I just outsource this? So I just want to share some of those thoughts with you the way I approach it. And I’ve divided it up into 14 different areas. self image, main thoughts, undercurrent thoughts, commitment, motivation, self trust, content quality, posting schedule, handling hiccups, improving what I do experience, who’s judging me analytics and perfectionist drama. So those are the different categories that I want to talk about because I approach the podcast, and Instagram indistinctly different ways as it relates to each of them. And that’s what really creates the experience that I have. It’s not that podcasting is easier than Instagram. It’s that I am thinking about myself differently when I am podcasting. Then when I’m creating for Instagram, and really for me Instagram, and this is so common for the clients that I work with in my program as well, that Instagram and platforms like that, that have a very immediate feedback loop in terms of likes and things like that, that will turn up perfectionism handbrake on a little bit more easily than something like a podcast, where you were able to just like hey I’m now sit in my office staring out the window, I don’t feel like I’m talking to someone. But actually, I do feel like I’m talking directly to you. It makes it so much easier. I just literally do imagine talking to one person versus trying to talk to the masses.

But I’m just able to share and then it gets posted. But I don’t have this kind of immediate feedback. People can’t leave comments on the podcast, you can leave reviews. But unless you have quite a big podcast, those aren’t happening as often. So it’s easier, in some ways for a perfectionist to be showing up on a platform where there isn’t that kind of feedback loop. But again, it’s really just about the way that you are thinking about yourself and about the platform that you’re on and getting to decide for yourself like how do I actually want to build this business? And if any way could work? What way would I want to make work versus while I can only be successful if I have an Instagram account, or if I’m on TikTok, or if I’m on every platform to just be able to zoom out and just be like, what do I actually want to make work? What am I committed to knowing that, regardless of what I choose, there will be obstacles, there will be judgment, there will be setbacks, like there’s no easy, flawless path to where I want to go. But I can actually intentionally choose where I want to put my energy and where I want to develop skills and master them.

And just as not being in this perfectionist mode of there’s a right way and a wrong way to do it. And I have to do it the right way. Even if I don’t like it, and I’m doing it wrong, if I do like it, like we literally think that and I talk about this, when I go through the examples, I’ve written down notes about it, that it being easy, makes my perfectionist brain thing that it’s less valuable, and less important than something that feels complicated and hard and pressuring. But with all of this said, I want to mention too, that this is all such an example of what it really means to be consistent, which is that it’s not about showing up perfectly and doing everything perfectly. And that if you skip a day, you’re going to lose any momentum you have.

So if you can’t follow through perfectly with your plans or your content calendar, then it’s not worth following through at all that I really would the podcast, I haven’t shown up perfectly, I still get in my own way with it. Sometimes I still overthink it sometimes, for the most part, because of the way I’m thinking and the work that I’ve done on my perfectionism, I’m able to be in self trust, I’m able to record easily and just have some notes and chat about it, I’m being perfectly consistent with it. So even with Instagram, for example, I haven’t been consistent with that, really, I would say at all, but at the same time, it has still been successful in helping to build the business. So all of this to say I have never shown up 100% consistently. And I still have a very successful business that feels very fulfilling to me, that is profitable, that is allowing me to have the personal life that I want to have.

So we don’t need to keep holding this idea in our minds that unless I can build my business perfectly. It’s a complete flop. That’s not the actual situation. But having said that, you do need to have the mindset that allows you to show up for a continuous period of time when it feels like it’s not working. Because even though the podcast is successful today, there were months and months and months of having low listener numbers. And this was I started it, what, four years into having a business. So I already had some degree of audience. And then I started my podcast. And it wasn’t like it was an overnight success, that I had to make some decisions about who I wanted to be, how I wanted to show up and what I was going to do to make that happen and what I was going to be and what I was going to allow to be imperfect so that I could make that happen, to be able to create the success that I have today.

And all of this is really why when it comes to being a productive perfectionist, and the proven process that I developed, and that I teach inside my program perfectionist getting shit done, what we do is we have you set a 12 month goal that challenges you. And then every week, you’re just doing three simple things, you’re planning your week in a way that gets your perfectionist mindset on your side, following through 80% of the time, and wrestling without guilt. That is what you’re focused on. And that is really what has allowed me to be able to get into such a growth mindset around the podcast, and have it be so successful. And even though for me when I’m contrasting the podcast with Instagram and saying the podcast is successful, and Instagram isn’t, it’s not that that’s the case either.

My Instagram account has been very successful in a lot of ways. So I don’t want to discount that. If you look at my Instagram and account and you think well, Sam things her account is a failure. And it looks so much better than mine and has so many more followers than mine. What I’m really talking about here is just the experience of consistency, and also actually enjoying the process. Because while my Instagram account might look and be successful. My experience with it is of pressure and stress. It’s time consuming. I always feel behind. And it’s very different with the podcast. And so we want to be able to get into more growth minded thinking that process that I mentioned, it’s naturally going to get you into the growth mindset and into the way of thinking that I’m talking about with the podcast that I’m about to share with you so that you don’t even have to really work at overcoming perfectionism.

Just by the very nature of following that productivity process. You were able to show up consistently where it acts It matters to you where you want to be showing up consistently with what is essential for you versus having to be consistent with all the things that you think you should be doing. So that you can get the a plus the gold star and build a business. Right? So let’s get into comparing the two, I think this is going to be so interesting for you to be reflecting on and just thinking about, for yourself your own business. And if you want to contrast if you are in different platforms, the platform, whether it is a podcast, Instagram, whatever that looks like for you, whether it’s an email newsletter, blog posts, where is it easiest for you and you feel the flow years and all of that? And where is it the most challenging and pressuring for you? Where do you feel like just no matter what you do, it’s never good enough. And sometimes, you feel like you are doing a good enough. So you get that high. But it’s not from a really clean place. It’s just from like, I actually go to a plus, so I can be happy with myself.

So is there some way you’re like that? And is there some way where, like me with the podcast, you are being more growth minded. Because you can borrow thoughts from that area of your business. Or what you can do is actually really have a look at do you need to be doing that other thing, like actually questioning, just because everyone else in my industry is doing it, or I think I should be doing it. Or it feels like I’m leaving money on the table or missing out on opportunities. And if I’m not doing that thing, what would it look like for me to just double down on the thing that really matters to me is enjoyable to me. And I know he’s actually working.

So with that said, my self image as it relates to the podcast versus Instagram. And actually, the most recent episode on this podcast was on the topic of self image. So if you want to hear more about this, because it is so powerful, then go and listen to that episode. But your self image is a story you tell about yourself, to yourself and to others, it is your identity, it is your self concept. It is who you believe you are, it’s how you finish statements like I’m the kind of person who I am, I always I never end. So when it comes to my self image with the podcast versus Instagram. It’s all very telling, because this creates a self fulfilling prophecy.

So when it comes to my self image about the podcast, this is what it is. I’m a podcast person. I love listening to them. I love buying from them. I love recording them myself. If someone came to me and said that I could build my business without the podcast, I wouldn’t want to know about it. Like I am a podcast person. Essentially, that is such a fundamental belief that I have. I started listening in 2013. And that is really why I started this business, because I happened to find psychology podcasts, and I was interested in them. And then I was recommended business podcasts by the apple podcast app, I started listening to them no intention of starting a business. And just through that constant exposure to hearing people talk about online business and what’s possible, I decided to start my own blog.

So I have a real sense of attachment to podcasts in a lot of ways. I feel like I owe podcasting so much. And I also just love podcasts, I never have to feel like I need to control how I’m consuming podcasts. Like I just have a very healthy relationship. With podcasts. I just the longer the better. I as you probably know, if you’ve listened to this podcast for any amount of time, I love a good long form podcast episode, like, I’m a consumer of podcasts. I’m a lover of podcasts, like that’s all my self image. That’s all me just like, that’ll feel so true to me. But ultimately, that’s my self image as it relates to the podcast.

Let’s contrast that with Instagram. I’m not an Instagram person. I don’t like using the app personally, I don’t have a personal account. Well, technically I do. But I don’t post to it, I don’t really check it. I actually at the moment don’t even have anywhere I can log into it. And that’s not because I’m trying to stop myself from doing that. It’s because I don’t care to log into it. I don’t like having a feed when it comes to Instagram. So on the business account, almost every account is muted on my feed and muted on my story. So there’s no actual feed. And I create posts because I have to like I’m on Instagram because I have to be that is a self image that I have around Instagram.

So it’s probably not surprising to hear about the experience I’m having. And it’s really important with self image to recognize that it’s not that I had the experience that I had. And then I decided I am a podcast person. And I’m not an Instagram person. Obviously at some point I had to be exposed to podcasting before I created a self image about podcasting or the same with Instagram. But because of the way that I was thinking about it, my brain has then filtered and distorted reality so that I’m getting what I want to experience and what I believe is true for me. So it didn’t have a great time on Instagram, my brain dismisses that because I’m not an Instagram person. And if I’m having a shit time with podcasting, or with listening to too many podcasts, and he knows that because I’m a podcast person, and podcast, support me, etc, etc.

So this self image stuff is so powerful. And in the last episode, I mentioned about how in my program, which is a 12 month program to help you be productive, to help you be a productive perfectionist entrepreneur, and achieve your goals that you have for your business, that typically around quarter three, when you are actually being productive and showing up consistently, that’s when you need to work on your self image. And just make sure it is actually reflecting what you want it to be because it won’t just automatically upgrade to reflect what you want it to be, and what’s going to be supportive.

So for example, I could have a million followers on Instagram, I still have a decent currently Instagram following and have this belief of I’m not an Instagram person, and that belief isn’t going to automatically switch over, when I suddenly have a bigger following, or I have more engagement or more likes, it’s really knowing you need to intentionally do that work. So moving on to the next section that I want to talk about, which is my main thoughts, obviously at this point, like all I’m sharing with you is my thoughts. That’s all we ever sharing while I’m speaking. But my main thoughts about podcasting versus about Instagram. So for the podcast, and these are really growth minded thoughts that helped me not be in the perfectionist mindset that helped me not get in my own way that helped me not have that perfectionism handbrake on so I don’t do as much overthinking, procrastinating, etc.

So main thoughts are it doesn’t need to be perfect. And me sharing the reality of my journey is the most helpful thing. The best episodes are the ones that feel like I’m just chatting about something I’m genuinely interested in, like, where I’m just chatting about coaching that I gave someone else, or coaching that I’ve given myself, like this episode, for example. And I really genuinely believe it doesn’t need to be perfect. It’s not an intellectual belief, my experience and because I have this belief, I’ve found evidence for it, which is my experience as a podcast listener is that I like the polished episodes where someone’s reading off a script and sharing about how they’re so successful, and they never make any mistakes anymore. And here’s how to be exactly like me, because now I’m perfect.

I love the episodes where it feels like you’re just catching up with someone in real life. And they’re sharing like, Hey, here’s what’s really going on. Here are the ups, here are the downs, here are things that I’m learning, that’s what I love consuming and what I’m so hungry for. And that’s what I love creating too. My main thoughts, on the other hand with Instagram are, this has to be perfect for it to be worth doing. And it’s really hard to do it perfectly. I have to make it look like I know what I’m talking about and say it in a really compelling original way. I’m only doing this because I have to do it. So those thoughts obviously make it hell to be trying to be consistent on Instagram. But in terms of the undercurrent thoughts, these are the ones that are kind of driving those main thoughts and just kind of like, behind the scenes in the background.

So for example, just to illustrate this for the podcast, my undercurrent thoughts are holy fucking shit, it can’t be this easy. Surely I have to be more professional or say less about the things I’m struggling with. To be able to build a successful business. I can’t put too much time and effort into this because surely it can’t be that simple. What I’m doing today won’t work when I have more listeners. So as you can probably tell from this as well. It’s these thoughts these and some of them perfectionist thoughts that have me deprioritizing the podcast, even though it is in a lot of ways, the most powerful way that I show up and build the business that I put it off to doing things like creating Instagram content, because it feels so vulnerable, that it’s easy, and that I could make a lot of money and be successful at business just by showing up and chatting.

And so for me a lot of the resistance that I have around podcasting, and the way that I experienced my perfectionism when it comes to podcasting is the discomfort of success, of feeling competent, of feeling like I know what I’m doing and my perfectionist brain struggling to trust that struggling to feel safe in that and like the other shoes and just gonna drop. So for me the work is really like, I feel so aligned with podcasting because of the self image because of the thoughts that I’ve shared and all of that, plus those reinforcing experiences that I’ve had. And my work with the podcasts that I do when it comes to perfectionism is to let it be easy to not think that I have to make it all professional and the times where I have felt most out of alignment with the podcast and where I know that people have been less interested in listening and being kind of like raving fans turned into like, yeah, it’s good I listened sometimes, it’s when I’m trying to be so strategic about episodes and like content, calendars and all these different things.

Because it just feels so scary to trust that I could just have a good time doing it and do it easily. And it work. And it keep working even as more people listen to it. So that is my perfectionism work really, when it comes to the podcast, because when I’m having these undercurrent thoughts, it means that I put things off until the last minute, I’m trying to create an experience that feels hard, so that I feel deserving of podcast success, so that I feel deserving of business success, it feels very vulnerable to just record episodes when I feel inspired to record them, and have it go out and it work. So I create a lot of drama around it. And I noticed this with my power planning, like I have tools to help me with this, and then have been so supportive with this.

And I share those and teach those in my program. But it really is like, for me the work when it comes to this is like, it’s easy. But my brain, my perfectionist brain doesn’t want it to be easy, it doesn’t feel safe. Whereas my undercurrent thoughts with Instagram are similar like perfectionist flavor, but different. So I can’t be too consistent with Instagram, because there’ll be so many trolls who see my posts, and will be commenting on what I’m saying and how I look. And I need to do it well, but not too well, because I can’t handle that much attention and criticism. And I want to say too, I have some thoughts with the podcast about like, once this podcast is bigger than everyone’s going to realize I have no idea what I’m talking about.

But ultimately, when I’m staying true to the way that I love and enjoy doing podcasts, which is this kind of episode where I’m not here telling you like I’ve got everything figured out. I don’t feel that sense of vulnerability of having a big podcast, I just know that me sharing my journey as a perfectionist entrepreneur, and the coaching and self coaching that I do is so valuable. And I don’t need to be an expert with all these degrees and qualifications. One, I have degrees, a law degree and a commerce degree. But just this idea with Instagram, is really, and I’m going to talk about this a bit later on. But this idea that the people on the other end are judging me, they don’t want to see me like I’m bothering them, because I’m trying to like pattern interrupt or like interrupt this role. They don’t want to hear from me.

So I have to be perfect and look perfect to be able to get their attention without having to experience criticism. And so with the undercurrent thoughts about Instagram as well like this idea that, again, self image coming in here, that I can’t handle criticism that I can’t handle people who have a different opinion to me about myself or about the work that I’m doing or about who I’m helping or anything like that. And that is an area of my self image that I’m needing to work on. Because I can handle criticism and feedback. I wouldn’t be at this stage of business. If I hadn’t learned how to do that. I’ve had one star podcast reviews, refund requests, which by the way, are normal for all businesses. I just feel like I need to mention that because the number of conversations I’ve had recently, with people who will either judge how successful a product or service is based on how few refund requests I’ve had or complaints, for example, or who feel like because someone complained or had a refund request, that that means that that product or service isn’t valuable, even though they’ve had so many people it’s held that it’s this idea of like, well, the goal is zero refund requests if I have any. That means that I’ve done something wrong. It’s like that perfectionist all or nothing mindset.

So I just want to mention, it’s normal, in case you haven’t realized that yet. It is normal, it is a rite of passage, and it will continue to happen in your business. But when it comes to the undercurrent thoughts with Instagram and this self image stuff, that I do need to work on that self image and develop that and upgrade that. And when it comes to self image, you don’t have to upgrade your self image in every single area of your life all at once. It’s just like choosing one thing, working on that getting to a new way with that so that you have a new normal in that area of your life. For example, you might want to create a self image around being someone who’s consistent, and then once that feels normal to you, then you can move on to something else.

So you will constantly notice areas that you can upgrade your self image. And the key is just to remember it’s one at a time. And so that’s an example of where I have self image work to do to really embody that I can actually handle a lot of attention, a lot of criticism, a lot of judgment and the more solid I am in my beliefs about myself and the more growth minded I am by following the Productivity Process that I teach, the easier that’s going to be as well. But also I can handle it.

So with the podcast, I never question whether I should have a podcast, I am committed to podcasting, I decided, and it’s so key, like the way I’m talking about podcasting is like, one day I had this divine idea sent from the heavens of like, I should have a podcast, I was like, let me just pick up a mic and effortlessly talk into it. And all of these amazing ideas came out and then all these fans and listeners came to me and it’s just been heaven ever since. That’s not it. I started, as I said, listening in 2013. And it wasn’t till 2017 that I started. I had a lot of perfectionism going on. I have talked about that on this podcast, as well, especially in some of the earlier episodes, where I’m reflecting on those first four years that I had the idea for a podcast, it took me a year to start it like a blog reader of mine said, Hey, you should start a podcast, I was like, nope.

Then I eventually started a YouTube channel. And because of the way I was recording, like vlog style videos that didn’t have me really doing anything, I was just like sitting talking to the camera, that it was just actually a better platform to have it on being on a podcast where people could just listen easier for me, I don’t have to record a visual with it. So I didn’t have this amazing aligned magnetic experience with podcasting, I really had to do a lot of work on my perfectionism in the beginning, especially as again, as I mentioned, I’m still doing it today. But I just want to be clear that when I talk about me saying like that I’m committed to it, I never questioned it. It’s because I decided that not because it happened to me.

And with the podcast, I decided that I want to make it work, versus waiting to see what happens before I put a full effort in. And this is something that is so common for perfectionist because of the way that our brain is working, that we are scared of wasting effort. We don’t want to risk putting effort into something that might not work or might not pay off, or we might not make our investment back. And so we do this thing where we hold back to wait and see, I’ll actually show up consistently on Instagram, for example, once I actually have decent engagement, well, you’re not getting decent engagement until you show up consistently like the showing up and being all in and being committed has to come first.

And with the podcast, I decided that I was going to do it and I was going to make it work. And that meant it was so much easier to keep showing up and putting out episodes when barely anyone was listening. Because I had decided I am making this work. I am being a podcaster versus how I think about Instagram, which is constantly questioning whether I should be on Instagram. And I’ve done a past episode, I think it was episode 247, Why I have no Instagram strategy for 2021. If you’ve been listening to this podcast for any amount of time, you will have heard some of my drama about Instagram, that I just want to be in this situation with Instagram, where I feel like okay, it’s definitely where I want to be. But I haven’t decided that like I’ve kept myself in this drama, about Instagram.

And part of it is that self image those mean thoughts, undercurrent thoughts, like in all of the perfectionism as well that is driving that, that because of that I’m constantly questioning whether I should be on Instagram or not. And then also whether it should be me or my team doing it. So I’m questioning it in multiple ways. And also with the posting schedule, which I’ll talk about soon. But there’s this constant questioning that is going on when I’m in that perfectionist mindset about it versus when I’m in the growth mindset, which is I’m going to make it work.

So that is really interesting to just see and to note, like how much time I spent questioning and energy goes to that versus being able to just do like you would if you saw my calendar and the amount of time over that period that has gone into Instagram, you would think I’m posting a lot more than I have been just because of how much self coaching I’ve had to do around it, how hard it is to be consistent how long things take and if you saw, like if you literally didn’t know which area whether it was a podcast or Instagram had brought in more revenue and success to the business and you saw my calendar, you would think for sure it’s Instagram, because podcasting, a lot of weeks, there’s nothing there some weeks is like 30 minutes or an hour. And that’s pretty much it. And that is just it’s so interesting when I really look at it that I still just have this sort of like being on Instagram is doing it right and having an easy flowing podcast is doing it wrong.

But with this commitment thing, it’s just looking at and for yourself reflecting on how committed are you? And are you in that approach of, well, I’ll see what happens, I’ll see if it’s worth putting an effort in, versus I’m going to make it work. And with all of this, there is perfectionism that is influencing the way that we are committed or not committed. And this is what we’re talking about here is for the podcast, I’m much more in a growth mindset, versus the Instagram account. And so we want to be doing the work to become more growth minded. And to just really recognize it as much as we want to believe that if I just do a course on the thing and get the perfect content strategy, and if I get the trending audio, or if I have more time, like finally, if I could actually like if the kids go to school or whatever, if I’m finally full time in my business, then I can do it.

Like, it’s not that it’s your thoughts about it. And so just seeing, I hope, it’s interesting to see the way that I’m thinking about Instagram versus a podcast and the different results it’s created is helping you reflect on how you’re thinking about it, and that you can borrow some of my thoughts about the podcast, because these aren’t thoughts I was born with. So when it comes to the motivation for why for the podcast, I love doing this. And I never see myself stopping. I want to create this kind of podcast one that I personally love. And it’s hard sometimes. But that’s just because showing up in the way I really want feels vulnerable, not because I don’t like it, versus my motivation with Instagram, which is I’m doing this because I think I should be if I’m not on social media, I’m missing out on opportunities, the number of likes and comments I get, tell me whether I’m doing a good enough job.

It’s hard because of course, it’s hard. But if I just mastered this, then I’ll be able to achieve all my goals, you can really see there’s that like all or nothing flavor to it. And there’s pushing and pressuring and force versus the podcast, it’s much more genuine and again, growth minded, that I’m actually wanting to do it. And because of that, as well, I’m having a much better time. And it’s much more successful. And this is really such, like my favorite thing about the growth mindset. And when you get into a growth mindset, and I recently did an episode about what the growth mindset actually is, because it’s not about you loving personal development books. So go and have a listen to that episode as well. But when you’re in the growth mindset, you have a better time and you achieve more, too. So that’s why I love teaching perfections entrepreneurs how to create a growth mindset. And you don’t have to be perfect at being in the growth mindset as I am sharing in this episode.

So when it comes to self trust with the podcast, I trust myself to record episodes for the most part. And it’s easy and enjoyable. With Instagram, I don’t trust myself to create Instagram content. And for the most part, it’s time consuming and painful. Unless I feel like I’m actually doing it perfectly, which happens rarely. And then it feels like this really addictive thing. And I want to keep posting and have all of these ideas. But it doesn’t last because that motivation, like the reason that I’m feeling like I’m trusting myself is just because I feel like I’m actually doing it perfectly and getting the A versus when you’re self trusting, it’s not dependent on the results that you’re getting the self trust still stays there.

So when it comes to Instagram, for example, because of the self trust and lack thereof, that I will be looking at other people’s accounts and seeing what they’re doing, what in their Instagram bio, what are their reels like saving things that I see, like, oh, I should create it like that, and looking for advice from experts about how to grow the algorithm and all of that kind of thing. And it’s not from a place of I genuinely want to learn is from a place of I have to learn this. And also like I can’t trust myself to understand it and just have it be easy and do what I enjoy doing. Like for example, the quotes that I write and share like it couldn’t be as easy as just posting those which occurred. I haven’t made it that easy. I’ve made it the hard way and create you this real experience of it been super hard. I use to have all these different kinds of content and whatever. Versus for podcasts. I consume a lot of podcasts. I love listening to podcasts. But I’m never doing it from a place of like, seeing what other people are doing. I’m just that because I love listening to podcasts.

And then as I’m doing that, I am picking up like Oh, I like this kind of episode. I don’t like that kind of episode. She kind of lost me when she said this kind of thing. But not really not consciously at all. I’m just enjoying engaging with the medium that I love creating. And also when it comes to going to experts for advice and that kind of thing. I don’t really do it. And when it comes to a lot of best practices around podcasting, and if you do actually have a podcast and you’re interested in specifically podcasting, I did an episode about how I grew my podcast. Let me just search and find what episode that was.

Okay, so it’s Episode 341, how I grew my podcast to 2 million downloads without following the rules. Also, since I can’t help myself, Episode 117 is on my advice for perfectionists on live streaming podcasting and public speaking. So in this episode, I’m talking about podcasting, but as a way to demonstrate thoughts about consistency, versus not being consistent, and perfectionism and the growth mindset and all of that. But if you actually have a podcast, I have done those two episodes, specifically talking about podcasts. So I’ll link them in the show notes. But I highly recommend checking those out as well. Comes back to this self trust that I have trusted that I could just create what I enjoy consuming. So for example, the reason that there’s no intro song for this podcast, is because I skipped over that for everyone that I listened to.

And I’m sure for a new listener, maybe it’s valuable. But literally for the first 150 episodes, I said, in real time, that introduction for the episode. And then eventually, I recorded that first, like 15 seconds. And I don’t say that every time because sometimes I would mess it up. And then it’s just an extra barrier to get an episode out. But I just love it actually feeling like a conversation. And I just trusted that. And I haven’t questioned that. And I haven’t like, be like, oh, this person has the best intro, I should do that. It’s just like, I trust myself to record long form episodes, because that’s what I like chatty episodes, because that’s what I like, no professional intro, because that’s what I like, like everything I do, it’s just been like, that’s what I like, that’s what I want to create.

And I’m just going to trust that and not, therefore spend all of this time looking at what everyone else is doing and having to spend time second guessing and changing all these different things constantly. And lately I’ve been thinking about when it comes to consistency and the value of constraint and just deciding what you’re going to do and making it work. The analogy of moving house came up for me, which is like, if you want to create a home for yourself and have it really be a beautiful home that feels homely and is to your style. And it’s just somewhere that you love being if you move into a house and I was thinking about this with our house that when we moved in here, it wasn’t our dream home. But we decided we want to make this house and this property. We live on acreage, this property ours. And over a period of now six years, we have renovated the entire house and changed the landscaping so much and actually created like the best, most beautiful home for ourselves. Versus if we moved in like this, isn’t it.

And then we have to spend all this time and energy, finding a new house moving into that house going oh, well, this isn’t an either. And then moving again and again and again. And again. Instead of that, and all that energy spent moving and being dissatisfied and trying to look for the perfect thing. Just being able to be like I’m actually going to make this house this property work. And sticking with it and then not having to spend all that time and mental energy on all the moving but just been able to put that time and energy towards making the house a home. That has been so powerful.

And so I really feel like it’s the same with the podcast, that I have just made it a home for myself that I’ve been like, this is what I’m going to make work. I love doing this style of episode, I’m going to figure out how to attract people who like that kind of episode as well, how to get out of my own way. So I can just let myself record that kind of episode. Versus with Instagram, I’m much more in this mindset of I need to find the perfect strategy and jumping from thing to thing to thing. So I’m never actually able to settle down and make it into the thing I want and develop the skills that I need to do that. I’m just constantly moving and changing and second guessing and researching and doubting and doing all of those different things because of my perfectionism and the way that that is impacting myself trust.

So when it comes to content quality. With the podcast, I prioritize sticking to the schedule, over creating perfect slash quality content. I’ve talked about this before. But quantity over quality really helped me to be consistent, especially in again, especially in the beginning when my perfectionist brain was not liking that I was just showing up and sharing and that I was saying things that might be sharing too much about like, what it’s really like to have a business and my struggles and all of that that. I decided I’m going to have the schedule which was twice a week. I get double the amount of practice as if I’m doing one episode per week. I am going to prioritize sticking to that schedule. And I liked it being twice a week because I just knew well, if it’s shit, the episode, there’s a new one in three days.

And that really helped me versus when it was once a week it was like, Well, this has to be good. Like it put me more in that perfectionist mindset, where it was easy to have perfectionist thoughts about it like, this has to be good because there’s less of it. And when I was in that quality over quantity kind of approach, then there wasn’t much quality, because there wasn’t enough quantity to develop the skills to create the quality. So with the podcast, again, really prioritizing sticking to the schedule over creating perfect content. And this is really what has allowed me to be consistent to show up and put things out there and like this podcast has been built upon episodes that feel completely imperfect or embarrassing to me that it is not like I’m like, Okay, well, you know, the first few are a bit rough.

But then I really feel like confident about every episode, I know that they’re helpful, but it is hard for my perfectionist brain, not to think about all the things that I could have said that I didn’t say or I could have actually said this analogy. And it would have made more sense, or I forgot to mention about this thing or like all of that. And so just having this schedule that I had committed to I wasn’t in the mindset I am in with Instagram, more of that perfectionist mindset of, I need to see this working before I commit, I just decided I’m making this work, this is my schedule, I’m sticking to it and trusting that just by me showing up and having those repetitions of me practicing the skill of talking and holding my train of thought and sharing what I’m self coaching on.

Initially, before I had clients, I started this podcast before I was coaching anyone else. And then as I got clients sharing about that, I’m just going to trust it. And I’m just going to trust that I’m saying what I need to say what I need to say it and the person on the other end is hearing what they need to hear when they need to hear it. Versus with Instagram. What has happened, the mindset I’ve been in the perfectionist mindset about it is I prioritize creating perfect content over sticking to the schedule. So it’s more that like quality over quantity approach, which means that I’m not actually doing a high enough volume of creation to be able to develop the skills, or even have enough data to see what’s working. So this has meant that my posts have been really inconsistent.

And it has been basically in my experience, my skill set around Instagram hasn’t really improved, it has to the degree that like there are flowing effects from showing up in other areas of the business and me being clear about what I’m talking about and who I’m selling to and all of that kind of thing. But as it relates to the actual art of creating Instagram content, nearly 10 years on the platform, and my skill set, I would say is pretty similar to when I started. So when it comes to Instagram as well, people do find us through Instagram, it’s not to say it’s not a thing. But it really isn’t the main marketing tool versus with the podcast.

This has been able to turn into such a powerful marketing tool, because of me, prioritizing that quantity over quality, which helps me to actually show up to develop the skills, which has meant that I have then been able to use it as such a powerful tool for growing the business posting schedule. So for the podcast, a clear and simple publishing schedule I stick to is not based on expert advice about what day of the week is better. I literally just decided Monday and if I’m doing two episodes, which I’m about to return to Monday and Thursday 5am Australian time, like I just made that up. I didn’t analyze anything or get that from anywhere. It was just like this makes sense to me. I haven’t question that. That has just been what the schedule is.

Whereas with Instagram, it’s constantly changing, there’s always a better way to do it that I need to find is lots of time spent super thinking about what types of posts to create and when to create them. Handling hiccups. So when things don’t go to plan, so when it comes to the podcast, when I don’t stick to the schedule, I don’t make it a big deal. I just returned to the schedule. So for example, a few weeks ago, I didn’t publish an episode. And the world just kept spinning. Like I didn’t have any big mental drama about it. It was just okay. And we’re just going to return to doing regular episodes the following week, versus with Instagram and it really is that perfectionist oh and I think mindset.

When I don’t stick to the schedule, I tell myself I’ve fallen off I feel like I’m behind I then try and make up for it with an even more perfect poster next time, which takes even longer because I’m putting more pressure on myself, which gives me less time to actually pose and do all the other things I need to do to build my business. So I just generally speaking have a much more growth minded approach to podcasting. And that really helps me to just actually stay consistent with it and show up. And that doesn’t mean I’m perfect with this schedule. But almost all the time, I am publishing in accordance with that schedule versus with Instagram where I feel like it has to be perfect or it’s not worth doing. I’m barely sticking to that schedule.

So this is why it’s really safe to just focus on 80% follow through, and not go into this all or nothing mindset of like, I have to do it perfectly or it’s not worth doing. Because the reality of that is, and we end up pretty much not doing it at all and exhausting ourselves with the drama of the tween and throwing. So when it comes to improving what I do, when I have an idea for the podcast for a new better way to do things, I still stick to the schedule that I have, while I’m working on also creating that vision for the future versus with Instagram. When I have an idea, which happens a lot for Instagram, because of all the things I’ve been talking about, when I have an idea for a new better way to do things I stopped posting. So I can go behind the scenes perfect that plan, create a little system for myself to do it, create some new graphics, and then launch that into the world.

And it feels like the smart responsible thing to do. Because once I’ve had a better idea, I don’t want to keep posting in the way that I now feel is insufficient or not good enough. But when it comes to the podcast, where I’m much more growth minded and less in that perfectionist mindset, I’m actually able to see business for what it really is, and consistency, which is like, of course, you’re always gonna have ideas for new and better ways. But don’t lose sight of what matters, which is also continuing to develop your skills and talk to the people that you’re helping and continue helping them. Versus with Instagram, like it needs to be perfect. It’s only worth doing if it’s perfect. If I share one imperfect post, they’re going to unfollow me like that kind of dramatic mindset around that.

And so as I mentioned, when it comes to improving what I do with the podcast, I have done this just by the nature of trusting myself, and doing it so many times. Versus with Instagram, where I have not been trusting myself, I’ve been trying to do it right. And my skill set around creating content itself has remained pretty consistent with where it started, it’s been pretty fixed. Because that is the way I have viewed it that I only have a certain amount of ability to create content and whether I get enough likes or whatever it is, is just telling me whether or not I’m good at it. Versus again, podcasts, I see it very differently.

My experience for the podcast flowy, quick, simple, and an abundance of ideas naturally flowing from myself coaching and me coaching others, versus Instagram pressure a time consuming complicated. I need a content calendar or pillars to help me think of things to say, when it comes to who’s judging me, this is what I’m thinking about. Like who I’m thinking about is on the other end of each of these forms of content. So when it’s the podcast, I create for the person who wants to hear what I have to say, I’m assuming that if someone I personally know is listening to the podcast that they actually like hearing what I’m saying. And I trust the simple and obvious ideas that I have.

When it comes to Instagram I create for the skeptic who’s not going to believe what I have to say, who doesn’t want to hear from me and doesn’t think I’m qualified to speak on this topic. I dismiss simple and obvious ideas because they don’t feel good enough. Only complicated ideas will work. Aanalytics when it comes to the podcast. And also with podcasting. Just for context. If you don’t know how this works, you just have analytics behind the scenes, you don’t really like there’s no public way to see how many people are listening to a podcast. And you don’t really even get to see and there are so many platforms you can obviously listen on. You don’t really get to see a subscriber number, you just get downloads, location. There are I think a few other ways you can get a bit more detailed information. But because there are so many different platforms that people listen to podcasts on, it’s not really true to what the actual numbers are. Versus with Instagram. Obviously everyone consuming Instagram is on Instagram and the analytics they give you a lot of analytics to look at.

So when it comes to the podcast, I review the analytics from a really grounded energy like I don’t check them often. I don’t really go and have a look to see I’ll often go through and have a look at you can sort by total number of downloads to see like what headings really land and having ideas for content from like all the episodes that I do on overthinking get more downloads, so I might do another episode on overthinking for example, but I’m not in this mindset of like this is all a test of whether or not I’m good enough. Versus when it comes to Instagram. I constantly check and refresh the analytics. I feel attached if a post doesn’t perform a question whether what I have to say is interesting or helpful. If content doesn’t perform, I make it mean something about me, rather than the content that I’m creating that people like me that I must have done a good job A plus Goldstar.

Like really with Instagram, because of the perfectionist mindset that I’m in around Instagram. It’s all a judge of me, versus with the podcast, I’m much more growth minded around it. So it’s more when I’m looking at analytics, for example, it is telling me about the concept or the idea versus me and my delivery of that. And then the final thing I wanted to talk about is perfectionist drama. So obviously, all of this is perfectionist drama, or being growth minded. And I think that just contrasting the two and also knowing again, like it’s not that you’re either in the growth mindset or in the perfectionist mindset. And you have to be fully growth minded and fully not a perfectionist to have any success, that I am much more growth minded in the podcast, but I’m not fully in a growth mindset. I’m still working on my perfectionism with the podcast. And I’m more in the perfectionist mindset with Instagram, which has made it a more challenging experience.

But that you don’t need to perfectly overcome perfectionism. And this is why I don’t talk about like, I finally overcame perfectionism, I’ve never had to work on it again, it’s just knowing like your brain, it doesn’t like you going out into the world and doing things that might mean that people reject you or judge you or think you’re too successful or not successful enough, and therefore you feel ashamed. So with each new level of business, your perfectionist brain is going to have a different concern for you to grapple with. And that you’re going to have to reason with your brain, get it on your side so that you can keep moving yourself forward.

So all of this has been obviously about perfectionist drama, and how to get into the growth mindset or how getting into a growth mindset helps you out of that. But when it comes specifically to this, I just wanted to say like the mental drama I have in real time about it. So with the podcast, I’m expecting my brain to tell me that the work I’ve done isn’t good enough. And I think it’s so interesting that comes up that when I am being growth minded, I expect myself to say it’s not good enough sometimes. Versus with Instagram, when my brain says it’s not good enough, I believe it, I listen to it, I react to it, I polish I perfect I retreat to make a better plan. Like I buy into that perfectionist drama, when it comes to Instagram versus a podcast, I still have that there.

But I don’t believe it like I’ve been able to just turn the volume down on it. And when my brain says, that wasn’t good enough, that was too chatty, you just went on this super big tangent or like you spent too long on that topic or that point or whatever it is. I just know my brain is going to chatter away like that. And I don’t listen to it. And I still hit publish and the business grows. And so it’s just so interesting to see that alone, that when it comes to Instagram, and me buying into that, versus if I was just to not buy into that, for example, just how different the experience would be. So I hope this has helped as hearing the contrast of experience.

And really, again, what this is all about is that it is okay, that your perfectionist brain tells you things and has you getting in your own way and struggling to be consistent. But by doing the work and following the productivity process, I teach as well in PGSD, perfectionist getting shit done, you can be more growth minded about it, you can be really successful with it, you can have a great experience with it. And it’s not about trying to get rid of the perfectionism or the perfectionist drama that you have about it. But just being able to get to a place where you can actually show up consistently do the things that you want to do trust yourself, enjoy yourself maybe even actually have fun like you created a business because you wanted to enjoy what you do that is my guess you wanted to work for yourself. You wanted to set your own hours, it wasn’t so that you felt like you just had someone ie yourself being a complete bitch to you the whole time expecting so much appreciating so little.

And so we really want to be getting towards and doing the work to get into this growth mindset about it. It’s not that if I finally have the perfect content calendar, if I finally have more time, like hopefully just hearing this, you can start to see that having more time doesn’t solve for consistency. And if you are, if you can relate to what I’m talking about with perfectionism, that we love to think the answer is more time, if I just had 48 hours in a day, if I could just actually finally have an uninterrupted block of a whole full day to do something, I could finally get it done. But most likely, you’ve had that full day, you’ve had the experience, where you didn’t have enough time. And then suddenly, you did, and you wasted it.

And it’s because of the being in either that perfectionist mindset like I am with Instagram, or be more growth minded, like I am with the podcast, and that we can really actually just work on those things directly, and make the changes that we want to make versus, Okay, well, I just have to hope I have more time and I need to constantly solve for that. Or maybe I just need a better morning routine to help me with this. Or a like, I’ll just see what this person does for their content creation system or their content calendar like all of that can be supportive, like I have a system for publishing podcast episodes that set up an Airtable, for example. But that isn’t why I’m consistent, because I have the same or very similar process for Instagram. And I’m not consistent with that. It’s the thoughts behind it. And it’s whether you’re in a perfectionist mindset about it or a growth mindset about it.

So with that said, I hope this episode has been really helpful. And I do want to mention a couple of things. First of all, in only a few days, we are opening enrollment for my program perfectionist getting shit done, aka PGSD. So from the eighth to the 12th of December, we will be enrolling the January 2024 cohort. So to find out more about it and sign up, you can go to samlaurabrown.com/pgsd, that’s where once it opens, you’ll be able to sign up and we can join the waitlist. If you are listening when this goes out or at a time, we’re not open for our quarterly enrollments of the program. And then also to celebrate the open enrollment for PGSD. I am teaching a live event called the perfectionism reset event. If you are wanting to get out of your own way to be able to show up consistently to be in that growth mindset to actually enjoy what you’re doing to do it in a sustainable way.

And you get as well that the reality of doing the work on your perfectionism and being a successful entrepreneur doesn’t mean that you’re never going to experience failure and setbacks. But it’s really about like, How can I learn to be resilient in that and bounce back from it quickly and not have that reality be a problem or send me into a shame spiral. I really want to invite you to the perfectionism reset event, I’m going to be talking about some really important things, for example, why all the popular productivity advice that’s out there in the world, why it actually doesn’t work for perfectionist, and why for example, to do lists and time blocking don’t work, how to actually set goals in a way that gets your perfectionist mindset on your side.

So many different things that are going to help you actually get into a growth mindset. Because as lovely and helpful I’m hoping this episode was that it doesn’t automatically get you into the kind of mindset I’m in around the podcast, you actually need a process to follow that’s going to help you do that. And have it not be overwhelming, like oh my god, Samsung, all these different things about podcasts, everything, all those same things about whatever my platform is like, No, I just follow the process that I teach inside PGSD, to create a growth mindset, that productivity process of setting a goal that challenges you and then every week planning properly as a perfectionist, following through 80% of time resting without guilt and repeating.

So that is a process that has had me be in this growth mindset about it and continuing to show up and not self sabotage when it’s all been going well. So I want to invite you to learn about that. So you go to samlaurabrown.com/reset to find out more about the event and to save your seat there are two times I’m teaching it live. And also a replay recording will be available if you can’t make it live but only for a limited time. So make sure you go and sign up for that it’ll take you 30 seconds to sign up you get an email confirmation. With the time that you have booked for we’ll send you the link to it is going to be so good. So yeah, especially with the new year right around the corner. It’s a perfect time to learn how to actually be productive as perfectionist how to get out of your own way in your business so you can do all the things you want to do. So I hope you’re having a beautiful day and I will talk to you in the next episode.



Author: Sam Brown