I’m so excited to talk to you about how I’ve been responding to the changes happening on Instagram as a multi-passionate coach.
I’m recording this episode in August of 2022, a time during which the powers that be over on Instagram have basically informed everyone on the platform that we’re going to need to make video content in order to stay relevant.
This announcement has caused a lot of different responses to emerge. Some of them are hilarious. A lot of people have been doing parodies of this announcement, which have brought me to tears. And other people are feeling really frustrated and some people are even leaving the platform altogether, realizing that maybe this just isn’t the place for them anymore.
Some people are continuing to create video content, but doing so pretty reluctantly. And other people are thinking of it as a creative challenge and embracing it and allowing this to be something that’s a catalyst for them to express their selves in a new way.
There’s no right or wrong way to respond to these changes, but I’ve noticed that everyone is responding in some way. And it’s something that’s been on people’s minds. So I want to share how I’m approaching this as a multi-passionate coach, as someone who embraces curiosity, as someone who asks questions as someone who’s in touch with their emotions and their feelings, and as someone who coaches themselves on a regular basis, so that I can be an even better coach to my clients.
So I’m going to walk you through my process and hopefully, you will take away something that’s valuable for you from this process as well.
Step 1: Getting Curious
The first thing that I did is I asked myself the question: how do I feel about these changes that are happening on Instagram? When I asked that question, I didn’t require that I had a response in the moment. Instead, I agreed to observe my process and allow my observations to yield me an answer.
So My first response and the first action that I took when I heard this update was I started cranking out reels. I was like, “okay, well, if this is how my voice is going to get out there, I better just fall in line.”
And that’s exactly what I did. I started creating a ton of reels and posting them even sometimes posting more than one a day. And some of them will get great traction and others really wouldn’t, but I wanted to just fall in line and do what they said I needed to do.
This made me feel burnt out after a while because my output of these videos was not something that I could sustain. There’s probably like one week out of the month where I feel like being on camera and the other weeks I’m more of a hermit. I’m definitely not someone who constantly wants to be on camera. That’s why I love having a podcast.
There’s a certain point in my menstrual cycle where I don’t mind being on camera.
And that’s when I’ll batch a bunch of videos, but instead of recording them and saving them for later, I was just sharing, sharing, sharing. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But when I think about wanting to create a sustainable relationship with this platform, that’s not sustainable for me.
So I noticed that I was sort of sacrificing my own well-being and my own energetic output to fall in line on this platform. That’s the first thing I noticed. The second thing I noticed happened when I posted content, that was not a reel. When I would post a static post or a carousel.
Those posts would get little to no engagement. When I would click view insights, it would say that it had shown it to maybe 23 people. And there are over 9,000 people who currently follow me on that platform. So seeing that Instagram wouldn’t even push that content out was extremely frustrating. I did not feel creatively lit up. I did not feel like it was a creative challenge. I felt frustrated. I felt defeated and I felt annoyed.
So in observing both of these feelings in both of these responses and the actions that I was taking. I was able to gather kind of the surface-level response that I had. First I fell in line, but then I realized that’s not sustainable. Then I felt frustrated, defeated, and annoyed because I realized that I wasn’t in control here. The algorithm has a lot of control over what content gets shown, that’s just the way it is in that platform.
The feeling behind the feeling
The next thing that I did as a coach, is I asked myself, “what’s the feeling behind this feeling?” So frustration, defeated, annoyed. Those are surface level feelings, but as a coach, I always like to know what’s underneath that.
And as I thought about that, I realized that the feeling behind those feelings is a desire to feel seen. A desire to feel heard. A desire to know that my work is making an impact. A desire to know that my work is reaching the people it’s meant to reach; multi-passionate creatives. And if I asked myself why I have those desires and I go a layer deeper. Then we really get to the heart of what’s happening here.
I am a coach for multi-passionates. Multi-passionate creatives are an under-served community in our society. Most of our society believes that the way to be successful is to choose one thing and become a specialist and be known for one thing. There are not a lot of people who are advocating for the opposite.
And that means that multi-passionates continue to be the underdog and a lot of situations. So my desire to have my work feel seen and heard and get out there and reach the people it’s meant to reach is not coming from an inflated ego place. It’s coming from a genuine passion and life purpose of supporting uplifting and creating quality content for a sector of our society that’s vastly underserved: multi-passionate creatives.
And when I get to that deep desire to the core of that feeling, I have so much empathy for myself. Of course, I feel defeated. Of course, I’m annoyed that this carousel that I posted that could have helped someone through their day, didn’t get shown.
Here’s the thing: if you don’t allow yourself to go into these deeper layers of feelings, you might pass off your frustration at Instagram as “Well, I shouldn’t be thinking so much about an app. It’s just an app, whatever.” And you might not even go to the place where you can get to the core of what you’re actually feeling.
Creating a Solution
Now once I was able to get to the core of what’s happening here, once I was able to tap into that, then I can ask myself the next question, which is how can I feel more supported in this circumstance? And the answer to that question has been really profound. I started publishing articles on a platform called Medium.
You may have heard of Medium, but if not, it’s an app and a platform for writers. It’s a place where you can go to write. So a lot of bloggers are there. There are a lot of entrepreneurs there. There are poets, there are parents.
All kinds of people are there, but they’re all people who love to write. Whether it’s what they do full time or whether it’s something that they do simply to express themselves. It’s full of people who believe that their voices deserve to be heard. And already in knowing that, I know I have a lot in common with this community that’s on this platform.
So the only type of content that is shared on Medium are articles. That’s the only type of content, long-form articles. This feels really good for someone who wants to feel seen and wants to feel heard. Right?
Putting my work on a platform where people are going intentionally to read long-form articles feels a lot better for me than putting my work on a platform where I have to fight to hopefully get people not to scroll past my 200-character caption. Huge difference.
What I’ve noticed when publishing my very first articles on Medium, I’ve only published five articles so far, and I’ve already seen that there is a huge aspect of community support baked into this platform.
When I spend time reading other people’s articles and leaving thoughtful comments, I often wake up the next day and find that that same person has then gone and read one of my articles and left me a thoughtful comment. It’s a place where writers go to encourage one another. It’s just, it’s a beautiful platform.
You can check out my articles on Medium HERE.
Doubling Down on Podcasting
The next thing that I’m doing is doubling down on this podcast. I love being here with you. This is my favorite thing to do. And so I already have a podcast and rather than put so much energy into these frustrations on Instagram, I’d rather put even more effort into growing and sustaining and nurturing this podcast. And you, those of you who are listening.
When I first realized that I wanted to share how I’m responding to the changes on Instagram as a multi-passionate coach. My first thought was to make a real about it. I was like, oh, my hair looks cute today, I’ll just pop on video and I’ll try to sum up my response to the changes on Instagram in a one minute reel.
And then as I began to verbally process what I wanted to say, I immediately realized: Nope, this needs to go on the podcast because I don’t want to try to cram how I’m responding to this in one minute. I would rather share this on the podcast.
So that you can listen and you can identify with what resonates with you. And we can spend a little bit more time on this subject. And that’s the beauty of podcasting. I’m able to talk to you. You’re listening in and we’re able to spend a bit of time together diving into these subjects.
This is definitely a space where I feel seen. I feel heard. And I know that my work is reaching those who it’s meant to reach.
Embracing Community
I’m so grateful for you. Have I thanked you for listening/reading? Have I thanked you for being here? Let me take a moment and just tell you that I can’t do this alone.
We are changing the world together. Every time you listen to my podcast and then send it to a friend. You are helping me change the world. We’re doing this together. You’re helping to bring a voice to a wildly underserved community. The multi-passionate community. Every time you leave a review, you’re helping someone else make the decision to listen in.
We’re doing this together. And so it’s important for me to feel connected to you because I can’t do this alone. And now that I’m saying that out loud, that’s another reason why the frustration and the feeling of defeat has been showing up for me on Instagram.
Because if my content doesn’t get shown to you, then you’re not going to interact with it. And then I don’t feel a sense of community and I don’t feel as connected to you. And that’s a hard feeling for someone who knows that we’re in this together. And the changes that I want to see happen, formal type passionates in my lifetime are going to depend on both of us.
It’s not just me creating the coaching program and telling you about it. It’s you signing up. You learning these tools, you changing your life, and that creating a ripple effect for all those around you. Thank you so much for being here.
Let’s Recap
To recap, here are the steps I took to evaluate how I felt and how I chose to respond to the changes happening on Instagram. Please feel free to try this process for yourself!
- Get curious about how you feel about the changes happening on Instagram without needing an answer in the moment.
- Observe your actions and use that to identify how you feel.
- Looking for the feeling BEHIND the feeling. What’s really happening here?
- Ask how you can feel more supported and create solutions accordingly
- Consider other platforms and/or doubling down on platforms that you’re already on that are a better fit.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Read my articles on Medium: https://medium.com/@MultipassionateJoi
Love the show? Leave a review! (Here’s how)
Connect on Instagram: @multipassionatejoi
Access the automated transcript HERE.
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