Grow 1%: Give Yourself a Break

Pick one of these newsletters every day, spend 2 minutes reading and 8 minutes implementing the lesson (1% of your waking day) and your socials will get 1% better.

Don't buy growth hacking classes. Save your money. Do this instead.

Build a post-Thanksgiving dinner 'nap' into your life.

I've worked with thousands of creators in my career and most of them eventually disappear from the limelight for the exact same reason:

Burnout.

They tell me the pressure of being 'always on' leads them to drink, do drugs, or have other unhealthy habits.

They tell me posting schedules are so aggressive and they don't have the creative energy to do a good job.

They tell me if their fans get mad if they don't post on Instagram every day.

And I always give the same response.

"What you're saying simply isn't true. This is a YOU problem."

The problem isn't the algorithm or trolls or pressure.

The problem is poor goal-setting.

If they were forced to pick one, their 'goal' would be to become infinitely rich, infinitely famous, infinitely respected, and have an infinite amount of views, likes, and followers.

So they always lose.

Because their goal is unachievable.

If they can't land on a specific goal and want to continue being the most special boy / girl in the world, that's fine. They're not likely to be happy, but I can't change that.

Instead, I ask them to build breaks into their life as if it's an essential part of the job.

Because it is.

Make time for it. Force yourself to do it.

Your content creation is like making that beautiful Thanksgiving dinner, posting and reading the comments is like you eating the turkey (or in my case, every Pillsbury roll I can shove into my mouth), and the after dinner nap is, well, a nap.

When you start scheduling breaks, a few things happen:

• You realize you could be more organized so you can get the same amount of content done in less time. Having a written daily schedule helps.
• You eliminate social media platforms or processes that aren't serving you so you can focus on the ones that optimize your fame / fortune / fun.
• Your content gets better, because you spend less time forcing creativity and more time letting creativity happen.
• Your follower growth accelerates because your content is better.

Every creator thinks they're indestructible until they destruct.

And when they do they always blame everyone else.

Own this. It's not the world. It's you.

So do something about it.

Prioritize that after-dinner, football-on-the-TV, tryptophan-induced nap

Or, at least spend an hour a day doing something you love just for the sake of doing it.

My mission for you: reward yourself with something after you finish creating each post. It can be 5 minutes of scrolling TikTok. It can be a gummy bear. It can be a phone game.

Make sure it's a burst of joy.

Do this before moving on to your next task.

And watch your growth accelerate in less work time.

That took 2 minutes. You have 8 minutes left. Reward yourself with a luxuriously long bathroom break and grow 1% right now!

Thank you to our sponsor FullScore - AI Optimization for YouTube!

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Thank you to our sponsor BrandArmy!

About the Author

Phil Ranta, is the COO of We Are Verified, a digital talent management and influencer marketing company. A 2021 LinkedIn Top Voice in Innovation & Tech, Phil has been creating content for the internet and building internet businesses professionally for nearly 20 years, starting on MySpace and riding trends to the present. He was the Head of Gaming Creators, North America at Facebook, the first network lead at Fullscreen, the COO at Studio71, and spent 10 years as a working comedian (including 2 years on cruise ships). He's a husband, a dad of two littles, and an insufferable digital media wonk.

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