We all have an Instagram account. Chances are you either check it too much, or you have absolutely no idea how everyone is so addicted to it and how it can actually work in your favour.
My Instagram is exactly what it should be – a reflection of me. It’s a combination of my life, my work and the things that I love. For some it is simply business, and for others it may seem like another platform for self-indulgence. But for many of us, consciously or not, it is much more than that.
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With the right attitude, a good Instagram session can also provide you with some pretty good perspective. These are 5 life lessons I learned while scrolling through Instagram feeds!
Knowledge is Power
Education is the process of discovering something we were previously unaware of. The more we learn, the more we know – I’m sure it’s not an unfamiliar process. I’m also positive I am not the only one that has come across something I was previously unaware of, simply by scrolling through my Instagram feed.
Discovering a new clothing boutique or coffee shop in your area, or that someone you know has a new significant other may not seem overly important in the scheme of things. However, it is a great reminder that knowledge can be gained in so many ways, and there are endless ways to fuel your curiostiy and learn more about the people, places and businesses that you follow. Pay attention to those around you and what they are telling you. You never know what you might learn or what connection it might spark.
In both Instagram and the real world – greater knowledge will always lead to greater options.
Creating Inspiration Is Awesome
When you post a quote or image that is #relevant, and your followers think so too… That’s a win!
Many people on Instagram, whether you know them or not, are going through the same stages of life as you. It’s undoubtedly a part of why you are drawn to follow each other and connect with such a powerful community.
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The feeling you get when someone comments that your post made their day, made them laugh, inspired them? It’s awesome. It reminds you that giving feels great and that sharing what you are passionate about is important.
Seek and You Shall Find
I am sure I’m not the only one to notice that when you are in need of a bit of advice, a push in the right direction, some inspiration or simply to be reminded that you are not alone… Instagram has some. The newsfeed has a magical ability to produce the quote you need or the image you desire, at exactly the right point in time. This could well be that we naturally follow people in similar situations to us, or people that we look to for inspiration – but either way, it is a pleasant reminder that if you care about it enough, something will show you the way and it will always work out in the end.
Get out there and put your effort into whatever it is you care about, and the answers will come to you. Knock, and it will be opened for you. Ask, and it shall be given to you. Seek, and you shall find.
Play to Your Strengths
Something that is so important to remember when indulging in a scrolling session is that Instagram feeds are not a true depiction of life – they are highlight reels.
No one is going to willingly post photos of the times their life isn’t super amazing and fun and successful. Why would you? Those times are for you to reflect, build on, or just have a break. Don’t lose sight of what’s important to you, and when things are amazing and fun and successful, don’t be afraid to share!
In life and in Instagram, you’ve got to play the game to a certain extent. Make that highlight reel your own. Play to your strengths and you can’t lose, there are no wrong answers!
Comparison is Counterproductive
Particularly for the ladies out there, scrolling through your Instagram feed is often an endless stream of beautiful women. People modelling clothes, in tropical destinations in a swimsuit, fitness models, hugely successful business women – on Instagram these days, it’s almost inevitable.
You have two choices. You can scroll through enviously and wish you looked like them- had their lives, their bodies, their fans. Or, you can admire their lives and their success and their beauty, at no expense of your own. Someone else’s success or beauty is not the absence of your own.
Don’t compare your life – appreciate everything you are and everything you have. The only person you need to compare yourself to is the person you were yesterday, and if you focus on building on that, it will always be productive.
Kate Dinning is a PR Consultant – a professional story teller – with a keen interest in Personal Branding, and the changing landscape of Social and Digital Media. She is a lover of good coffee and good conversation, and one of those people that just refers to everything as an ‘adventure’. Follow her adventures here: @katedinning