After nearly a decade of creating on Instagram, I’ve made the decision to step away.

This wasn’t an easy call. Instagram has played a key role in building the coaching business I run today, serving clients in over 20 countries. And it’s fair to say that some of my most valuable relationships, biggest opportunities, and long-term clients have come through this platform.

But things change. Yes, the platform and algorithm have changed, but more importantly, I have changed, my priorities have shifted, and my definition of success has expanded.

And as I got clear on (and serious about!) what success looks like over the next 1–3 years and where my time and energy were actually going, I realised that what got me to where I am today, won’t get me to where I want to go next.

Spending more hours on Instagram might get me more likes, followers, and a client or two. But the reality is it won’t support the expansion of my business into specific markets. It won’t help me to make the impact I want to make.

The return on time (ROT) simply no longer justifies the investment.

So, as uncomfortable as it was, I made the decision to leave behind what once served me well but no longer delivers returns proportionate to my effort and goals. And to shift my focus to executing the strategies that actually move the needle in real, measurable ways.

Because, if there is one thing I’ve learned — be it in business, life or relationships — is that the irony of success is that the strategies that got us to where we are today, are often the very thing holding us back from what’s next.

And yet, recognising this isn’t always easy.

It’s not that we’re actively choosing the wrong thing. It’s that when something still works to some extent, we don’t stop to question whether it’s still the right thing.

We hold on to what’s familiar — what feels productive — rather than what’s actually effective. We default to doing more instead of doing better. We fill our days with tasks that keep us busy, yet fail to recognise that motion isn’t the same as progress.

And this trap we often fall into — we’re too busy to even notice it.

Being busy becomes our shield of choice, a way to convince ourselves that we’re doing everything we can. To tell ourselves we don’t have time to step back and reassess. But what we’re really doing is avoiding the discomfort of confronting what’s no longer working.

That’s what my decision to step away from Instagram came down to.

It was about getting brutally honest about where my time and efforts were actually creating leverage and recognising that I was caught in a loop of doing what feels familiar rather than adapting to what the next level of growth demands from me.

Yet, when something still delivers some return, it’s difficult to recognise. And even when we do recognise it, we often fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy — the phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it.

It becomes most dangerous when we have invested a lot of time, money, energy or love into something. The higher the investment, the bigger the reason to carry on, even when we know it’s no longer serving us.

And this is how we get stuck — when we tell ourselves that we’re too busy to step back and reassess, and when we’re too attached to let go.

The truth is, everything in life is impermanent, and the longer you hold onto the beliefs and strategies that have outlived their purpose, the more you delay the shift that will actually move you towards your goals and aspirations.

The real challenge isn’t doing more (of the same), it’s developing the awareness to recognise what’s no longer serving your growth, and having the courage and discipline to do what’s required to get to where we want to go.

Here are four steps to support you in this:

Step 1: Get radically clear on your main thing

If you don’t define it, everything will compete for your attention, and you’ll end up spending time on what’s loudest instead of what matters most. If you want to lead, instead of react, you have to decide for yourself what the single most important goal is right now.

Step 2: Get brutally honest about where your time is going

If you’re not tracking it, you’re guessing. For the next seven days, document how you spend your time. Every task, every meeting, every project — track it. Then, rank each one from 1–5 based on how much it actually moves you closer to your goal.

1 = No contribution.

5 = Significant contribution.

Look at the numbers. Where is your time actually going? What’s eating up your time but delivering little to no returns? Where are you choosing familiar effort over real impact?

Step 3: Decide what needs to go

Just because something feels comfortable doesn’t mean it’s the right choice. And just because you’ve always done it this way doesn’t mean a better way doesn’t exist. Get radically honest here, what are you holding onto because it’s familiar, not because it’s effective?

Step 4: Identify the real work — the thing you’ve been avoiding

There’s always one move that creates the biggest shift. One decision, one action, one step that breaks the cycle and builds real momentum. But it’s usually the one we avoid — the one that feels uncertain, uncomfortable, or inconvenient.

If you’re not sure what it is, pay attention to what you keep postponing. What makes you hesitate. What you resist. That’s usually it.

Step 5: Take full ownership

Your circumstances might not be your fault. But how you respond to them is your re-spons-ability.

Because, the inconvenient truth is that many people say they want to grow, change, and succeed… but when it comes down to it, they are unwilling to do what their next level of growth demands from them.

Yet, the level of success we can reach is directly proportional to the amount of responsibility we are willing to take. And if you’re not willing to give what it takes, then you might as well learn to love your life exactly the way it is.

And if you can’t do that, taking ownership is the only antidote.

I hope you choose wisely.

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