We recently published this podcast episode 204: When Instagram makes you feel poor, fat and unloved. We also did a massive cull of who we follow on our personal and our Merrymaker Sisters Instagram account. It felt good!
Because who you follow on Instagram is important! Your Instagram feed has the power to uplift you, inspire you and educate you but it can also make you feel like absolute crap.
So let’s check-in, is it time to cull?
If you don’t think so, be sure to check out the below 5 reasons to unfollow their Instagram account… just in case.
If an account makes you feel poor, fat and unloved… definitely unfollow.
And yes it could be a sign that you need to do some inner work. And hey! Do not feel any shame about this. Because we ALL need to do this work in some way or another at some stage in life.
This is why we run our podcast… it’s pretty much our own personal let’s figure out life session every single week.
5 reasons to unfollow their Instagram account
You continually compare your body to their body.
Every time you look at their photos you find something you NEED to change about your body.
If you look at their account and instantly think you need to lose 5kgs, go on a diet, get fake boobs, get botox, build bigger muscles, change any external feature, it’s time say goodbye.
Even if you know them, simply unfollow (or at least mute) to look after your mental health… if they’re an important friend they will understand.
Yes, we can all make healthier lifestyle changes but let’s forget about the weight goal… actually can we just scrap all the goals to do with changing our physical self for aesthetic purposes only?
You are so much more than just your looks. If you want to make a change, check on your motivation and intention.
We recently spoke about deleting ‘lose weight’ from your to-do list for good TUNE IN HERE.
At the moment we love following Jameela Jamil and her I Weigh account. She’s on a revolution against shame.
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You feel like you NEED to buy a new piece of clothing every single day.
Seriously, we all need to get this memo. Fast fashion sucks, over-consuming sucks. Thinking you NEED to wear a new piece of clothing every weekend sucks.
It’s not good for your self-esteem, it’s not good for your mental health and more importantly, it’s not good for the planet or your pocket!
We want to be honest, we are not 100% perfect here.
We still fall for fast fashion every now and then, we grew up loving a good bargain! And we also lack knowledge in this area. But it’s something we are paying more attention to.
Now, we think more about what we need to add to our wardrobes. And we only go to the mall when necessary because as soon as we walk around we feel the desire to purchase… everything.
Also, keep in mind that many fashion bloggers and Instagrammers are getting paid to promote to you what they wear. So question everything… do you even want the piece of clothing because YOU like it or because they are telling you to like it.
We’re not saying to unfollow every single fashion blogger or clothing brand. We get it! Fashion is art and an extension of who we each are.
Look for fashion bloggers and Instagrammers who inspire you to create timeless wardrobes. The ones who discuss sustainability, the ones who wear clothes again and again.
“There’s this idea that somehow you’ve got to keep changing things and as often as possible. Maybe if people just decided not to buy anything for a while, they’d get a chance to think about what they wanted: what they really liked” Vivienne Westwood
We are not super into fashion (unless we’re talking yoga pants) BUT at the moment we love following Next Level Wardrobe. The below post: how to create MORE outfits with LESS clothing.
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They inspire you to work hard, but now you feel that to be successful you need to own (or lease) a brand new luxury car.
Oh and also fly first class.
Annnd… own all the Prada, Dolce, Givenchy and Valentino.
And then this WILL make you happy. And only then, you can label yourself as ‘successful’.
This is important, stuff won’t make you happy and you don’t need it to be successful. It can bring joy (for some, not all) for a moment, but can often be followed by buyers remorse. Know the feeling?
It’s continually documented that STUFF and material possesions cause more suffering than contentment.
Sure, if you have the money and you value this stuff and these amazing brands buy it all. But if you can not afford it… why cause yourself this senseless suffering by following these accounts? UNFOLLOW!
In our experience, true happiness and life contentment come with finding purpose, spending time with loved ones, nature, learning and creating something from nothing.
What does success look like to you? For us, it’s waking up with a sense of freedom, it’s financial freedom, it’s living in alignment with love. Nothing to do with the brands we wear and the cars we drive.
We love inspirational creatives like Liz Gilbert. There’s no sign of perfection, it’s filled with the ups and downs. She inspires you to feel and think with depth.
She’s sold millions of books, her book was made into a best selling movie and she promotes that success is laughter shared with someone you love.
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When you meet them they are nothing like who they are on their Instagram.
Oh, how we dislike this. When we first started this blogging and Instagramming thing (when we were much younger, naive and when we got easily impressed by follower numbers) and actually attended influencer events we continually met Instagrammers who were nothing like they seemed on social media.
Many were also were quite rude and snobby towards us.
We fast realised this world of social media can be superficial. A world to navigate with thought and care. We also realised it’s mostly BS… so we focused on our own lives and contributing positively to the world. And we stopped saying yes to most event invitations.
A shout out to Luke Hines in the Australian Wellness world. He is open, he is real and he shares the highs and the lows.
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Their life is perfect, their relationship is perfect, their kids are perfect, their house is perfect (you get it).
Let’s get this straight… perfect isn’t a real thing.
Everyone’s definition of ‘perfect’ is different. Your definition of perfect is created by your own judgements, your personal likes/dislikes, what society, the media or your idols promote as ‘perfect’.
Perfection is the super high standards and expectations you place on yourself and the people around you.
Unfollow perfection and seek out the depth, the Instagrammers who share the dynamics of life. The good, the bad, the mundane, the real.
Perfect is NOT real.
We love Lena Dunham.
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And we’ve ended up with 6 reasons to unfollow their Instagram account.
They don’t inspire you to think bigger.
This is the magic of social media! We get access to people, their brains, their amazing ideas and thoughts.
Make sure they are epic ideas! Do these people inspire you to think bigger? Do they inspire positive change? Do they educate you on issues you care about?
Do they inspire you to create, to take action, to love more or to create better relationships?
Just remember to not use this last reason as an excuse to keep following if their content also triggers you.
More accounts we love: Nitch (this is Emma’s favourite account on Instagram), Matt Zhaig, Sarah Wilson, Amanda Palmer, Create the Love (good especially after breakups). Just to name a few.
Happy unfollowing, look after yourself because you are important.
Always merrymaking,
Emma + Carla
Feature image: by Katka Pavlickova on Unsplash