Healthy Habits for Growth
Long game, regular check-ins
Hello! Let’s try something new.
In today’s post:
My unconvincing attempt to convince you (I mean, me) that I have my priorities in order
How, where, and when to promote your work
Tips for creating momentum and engagement from
Insights on intention and transparency from Sophia Roe and Jess Damuck
How is it Thursday???? I am so delinquent!
You know how reasons and excuses can really blur together? Well, in an effort to offer context (???), this is what my week entailed:
Sunday: Gym + panel prep
Monday: multiple idea pitches due + panel + parenting
Tuesday: recipe development all day for next round of videos + parenting
Wednesday: typing up recipes and then frantically pulling sh*t together to drive up to CT with Cosmo to spend the Easter weekend with my folks. A 2 1/2 hour drive took 4 hours 🤪. (I rented an electric car that I’m thinking about leasing and am getting the feel for it. Currently sitting in the town pizza place, because they have 4 EV chargers in the parking lot.)
Thursday: slept in, then sent out another pitch that I should have sent on Monday! And here we are.
The fact that I didn’t post here sooner is wrapped up in there somewhere—but not because I was too busy. The true reason is that other tasks took precedence—on those, I was answerable to outside entities and their deadlines. I am highly outside-deadline-motivated, but over time I’ve become worse and worse and holding myself to self-imposed internal deadlines. In practice, this means, I have an easier time letting myself down than disappointing others. I had a video come out yesterday—who knew? Did not promote it. It’s Easter weekend, a big cooking weekend—I should have bundled recipe content and sent it out here and on IG. Did I do it? Not … yet? That said, I think I took two days off the entire month of March.
Promoting the work I have already done is also work. And while I love making videos, I don’t love ringing my own bell week after week. (There’s only so much fire this Leo can stoke.) I know it’s important to be consistent. When I fail to amplify the content I worked so hard to create, I feel like I’m failing, and that creates a negative feedback loop. Rather than celebrating a new recipe release, I often have anxiety about not following through. I am working on this!
I’ve tried many tools and techniques to tighten my grip. Content calendars, Google calendars with reminders, digital checklists, Notes app, hand-written notes, Post-It notes, week-at-a-glance planners, and truly the best intentions. Baby Carla couldn’t sleep if she left work undone. Current-day Carla goes to sleep nightly with a giant floating bubble above her head filled with The Stuffs. It’s a jimble-jamble-scrimble-scramble up there.
Rachel Karten publishes on schedule and at a very high level every week. I admire her so much for that. She juggles content calendars for big brands. She is always looking ahead but she is also always nailing the Right Now. I asked her what daily and weekly habits creators should practice for growth and engagement. Her multi-pronged advice provides a strategic road map for all of us.
Focus on discovery-oriented platforms, namely TikTok. Their algorithm is powerful and can launch a creator from obscurity to celebrity in a matter of months. We’re not worried about it getting banned.
Make content for the platform you choose, as often as possible. Is that 2x/week? Once a week? Choose what is sustainable for you, and stick to it. This content should ideally be created specifically for the platform as opposed to being repurposed content from somewhere else, ie a cutdown of a longer video (a lot of my short posts are taken from longform videos; this isn’t optimal!). Show up with a post, a story, a Tiktok that reinforces what your brand is about. Is it service? Is it entertainment? Is it advice? Whatever it is, dip in.