I Need to Shift My Perspective

It’s funny how this newsletter reflects exactly how I’ve been feeling each week. And this week, the theme is clear: I need to shift my perspective. Especially when it comes to social media.

Social Media

We all know social media can be toxic when we compare ourselves to people’s highlights. But there’s another side that I’ve recently felt: the toxicity of posting itself.

Not creating but posting. And then caring too much about the results.

How many views make a video “successful”? How many likes mean it was “worth it”? The moment those questions appear, you’ve already lost your peace.

Before I get into what happened, here’s why I even started posting regularly: I’m not fully satisfied with where I am in life and I want to move toward something that involves more human connection. That’s why this newsletter exists too. I’m not trying to be an influencer, I’m simply experimenting with putting myself out there and seeing where it leads.

But along the way, something shifted. I started caring about views. Especially when they began declining. I made the mistake of boosting a couple of posts and the inorganic numbers felt good for a moment. Then stranger messaged me saying he loved my content but hated that it showed up as an ad. He also mentioned something interesting: once you boost content, Meta might suppress your organic reach because you’ve signaled that you’re willing to pay.

I noticed the pattern he was talking about so I stopped boosting. But then my views dropped even more. And in my overthinking brain, I started forming theories, maybe Meta sees the remaining balance I deposited a while ago and keeps suppressing my videos until I boost again. So I decided to drain the balance by boosting one last time.

So as I’m writing this, some of you may have seen one of my videos as an ad. And ironically, my latest reel got my highest organic reach ever.

Coincidence? Algorithm luck? No idea.

But here’s what actually matters: none of this should matter at all.

I didn’t start this journey for views. I started because I love creating relatable videos and lately, running videos too. Filming and editing actually make me feel alive. But the moment I start obsessing over numbers, everything feels discouraging.

So I need to shift my perspective back to the fun part: the journey.

Not the metrics.

Because when I connect with people, I feel joy but when I care about views, I feel like stopping.

Working from home with a lot of alone time doesn’t help either, overthinking becomes way too easy. So I’m saying this here to pull the thoughts out of my head: I want to enjoy the process again. I don’t want a number to dictate how I feel about myself or my content.

Running

I fell into the same mindset during today’s long run.

I needed to run 10 miles, but my Apple Watch skipped the first interval when I was 1.5 miles in. In a moment of panic, I stopped the workout and restarted it from zero. Because my run had specific pace intervals, it completely messed things up so I ended up running 11.5 miles in total instead.

Great, right? Except I was annoyed.

Then I forgot to stop the workout when I finished for 15 minutes while standing still, which ruined the average pace on the app. My true pace was 9:45 min/mile but the app showed 10:51 and suddenly I felt like I didn’t do well at all.

How ridiculous is that?

Instead of feeling proud that I hit all my target paces and ran extra, I let an incorrect number steal the joy of the entire run. It’s wild how quickly the mind can twist something good into something disappointing.

Now that I’m thinking clearly, I know the truth: I did really well. I should be proud.

Again… perspective.

Why I’m Sharing This

Whenever I write these newsletters, I try to share something that at least a few people will relate to. This week’s reminder is simple:

We’re not perfect. We overthink. We compare. We get frustrated. We attach our happiness to meaningless details. And yet we’re still growing, still learning, still trying to become better humans.

A shift in perspective can completely change how we experience our lives.

I’m sharing my struggles not because I have the answers, but because maybe you’re going through something similar and maybe this reminder will help both of us breathe a little easier.

Here’s to focusing on what matters.

Here’s to letting go of what doesn’t.

And here’s to choosing joy over numbers every time.