We broke up!
I broke up with the girl who got me into Instagram in the first place. I should have known that Instagram isn’t the right place for me.
Why did I continue using Instagram after breaking up with her?
I started using Instagram around Feb 2018. My ex-girlfriend showed me Instagram. Don’t assume I was old for it; I was in my mid-twenties. But, my focus was on my career and immigration from Africa to Canada.
In December 2017, I took my first vacation after securing my dream job in July 2016.
People take vacations to travel to Ibiza, and I took vacations to build a blog around my hobby. By then, I realized that my writing had sucked; and all my managers were great writers.
I didn’t start a blog around my expertise-Finance; rather, I started a blog about my hobby, dancing.
I was going out dancing and working on my blog at that time, and bam, I met a cute European girl, and we hit it off. She liked what I was doing and was supportive. I started using Instagram to promote my blog, as she recommended.
I resisted it at first because I told her I was not interested in posting my food and what I was doing with my life. I think I was too square-minded back then. I only knew business and numbers.
It was a trap. I loved the platform within weeks. When I love something, I get obsessed with it. I went full in, learned about algorithms, and even spent $700 on an Instagram course.
My Instagram dance page took off, I reached 60k followers, and most importantly, I started a dance business. I built some connections in the city. My girlfriend and I started teaching dancing; it was a fun ride.
In 2019, I got sick, quit my job, and my relationship went downhill.
Breakups aren’t easy; I had three of them at the same time. I broke with the job, the girl, and my health. I guess life had other plans for me, these experiences made me wise, and I found myself. I discovered a lost part of me. I had things to write and say!
Fast forward, I started podcasting, a coaching practice that wanted to share my ideas. I’m the Instagram guy; I can replicate the success of my dance page with my personal development and personal branding page. It was August 2019.
I was wrong. Instagram changed the algorithms, and there was a weird change in society. Instagram transformed into an “Asstagram” and I can’t compete in the bom race. My man boobs aren’t that attractive either.
I was late to the party; the growth was slow. Instagram isn’t the same anymore. I struggled. I went through waves of excitement and disappointment. I quit a couple of times and returned determined to make it work.
In 2022, I decided to move to live in Mexico, and I went full-in doing inner work to find a greater path I was also determined to make my thought leader business work and replace my Engineering job income. Since then, fantastic events have happened. And the best one was when the WiFi went off for 5 days in my apartment.
Life pushed me to leave my home and go to a Co-working space. A change of environment brought my inspiration back. I got super focused and organized; without any plans, I got back to writing on Medium and posted an article on my birthday- Aug 18th.
A month in, I posted over 15 articles and got accepted in some great publications. It was healing and encouraging. In 2018 I posted an article on Medium; it got more than 400K views and made zero dollars. I gave up early1
Medium isn’t where I can experience growth; I had to come up with a new plan. The only alternative to hard work is smart work. I analyzed top internet entrepreneurs, and I remembered a close friend who once said to me, “ When I talk to you in person, I hear gold nuggets, and when I watch your Instagram videos ….it’s almost not you.”
I needed a platform where I could post long inspiring content, experience organic growth and connect with my desired audience. I started a LinkedIn account with zero connections three weeks ago. I was sad because I already had another LinkedIn account with 1800 connections, but I couldn’t use it to share my futuristic ideas with my work colleagues. They are watching!
My audience hangs out there; I want to speak with people with great careers who followed the normal path and are on the verge of discovering it wasn’t the right or the only choice. I talk about “purposepreneurship” and how someone can transition from unhappy at work to fulfilled and start earning income from their unique talents — their elements.
Today, I have 256 followers. People are open to connecting there, and some started interacting with me and my content.
My platform is LinkedIn, and it found me. I’ve designed a content-sharing strategy; it starts on LinkedIn then I tailor the posts for Twitter and my Facebook page. I still post on Instagram, but I only focus on stories rather than my Instagram feed.
I’m satisfied and optimistic right now. Last week I wrote my first E-Book, and I create daily content around it.
You can grab a copy for free. How To Transition From Unhappy At Work To A Happy Purposepreneur.