A few years ago, while I was working in corporate IT jobs, I decided to go to India for 3 months and do a Work as Meditation program. The basis of the program was that I would work for 7 days a week, 6 hours a day in a job that I didn’t pick for 3 months, with the purpose of learning how to bring meditation into every area of life, specifically, the one I spend the most time doing – work.

At the time, I had just finished a particularly intense contract and wanted to find peace and balance in my life. The whole experience was a rollercoaster of inner transformation, and I realized the 4 key lessons I learned there apply perfectly to getting started with social media.

Lesson 1 – Do What You Love

Since the Work as Meditation program was Karma Yoga (or selfless service), I didn’t get to choose my own job, but when I arrived when there was a vacancy at the information desk, so my job turned out requiring me to sit under a gazebo in the lush, green paradise and talk to guests about the resort. I Loved it.

After a month, there was an opening for a graphic designer. With my IT background, they gave me the choice of staying where I was or moving into the new role. Since I wanted to learn how to love the job I hated but paid my bills, I felt the new job would give me experience that was applicable to my “real” life. Groan.

Funnily enough, instead, the lesson I learned was to choose what I love. The next 2 months were very challenging, and I fought with myself numerous times about dropping out and leaving early.

To get started with social media, start by sharing your passion. It takes time to see results and success with anything, and your passion will keep you going. It’s also important to start with strategies that compliment what you already enjoy. For example, if you like writing, you might want to start a blog, or contribute to Squidoo or Knol. If you enjoy talking or teaching, try making videos and sharing them on Youtube or Vimeo.

Lesson 2 – To Thy Own Self Be True (Be Authentic)

Even in a small spiritual community in India, people voice opinions about your life and how you’re living it. Since I felt like a total novice to spirituality, I let others’ opinions have way too much influence on my life.

This led me to discover my the second gem my experience in India had to offer – the only way to happiness is to find answers within myself, because trying to live by anyone else’s standards drives me a little crazy.

To be part of social media, you have to share yourself, your ideas and opinions. For some people, this can be really scary. If you are worried about privacy, overly concerned about what others think or you’re too focused on seeing results and making money straight away, you’ll struggle to be successful with social media.

Authenticity is a huge part of what makes people attractive online. Others can sense whether you’re genuinely interested in them or if you’re just trying to sell them. Choose authenticity.

3. Time and Focus are Required

On top of working 6 hours a day and I was required to attend a 2.5 hour meeting each night. After meals and a morning meditation, I was left with 1 – 2 hours of personal time each day (although, I was constantly reminded by others that all the time I spent there was personal time and I must stop segmenting it).

The point of this intense schedule was to teach us how to live for the moment, rather than living for the future (weekends). This highlighted the value of my personal time. If someone asked me to do something, instead of automatically agreeing, I would stop and consider if I really wanted to do it.

One of the biggest challenges you’ll face getting started is where to put your time and energy. Remember, not only will it take time to see results from social media, it will also take time for you to learn how to use it effectively. It’s better to start with one strategy, focus on it until you master it and measure the results before starting another strategy.

Lesson 4 – Let Go

To be perfectly honest with you, the first month I was at the resort I did very little serious meditation. Actually, I considered myself to be bad at it. I have a tendency to resist any authority, even if that’s my consciousness trying to exert authority over my mind.

After a particularly upsetting situation, I was feeling a baseball of stress sitting in my chest with the hitter, anxiety, stepping up to the plate to take a swing. A few people I knew were taking a night off their spirituality and heading into the town to do some serious drinking and for a moment I considered going too, even though I had quit drinking a couple of years before.

Stressed as I was, I realized where that was going to end, a few hours of release and monster hangover and no resolution. I decided to take a new road – instead I got up at 6am and did the craziest meditation I think ever invented, involving being blind-folded while screaming, jumping up and down, dancing, standing like statue. Something I had mocked only 2 weeks before.

But it worked. I was able to let go of my pain that day and see things in a new light. I even continued that crazy meditation every day for the rest of my time there and found some peace in the madness. That choice to start something new was an incredibly pivotal point for my time in India and my life.

Social Media is not a get rich quick strategy, it’s a long term medium to build relationships with others. It’s the gift of an open channel for communication with people you may never be able to reach traditionally. Regardless of the technology, building relationships is the same online as it is offline, it takes time to build rapport and trust. Doing that requires some selflessness on your part, helping when you can and while having no expectations of getting anything in return.

As a business owner, it’s important to separate your social media strategy from immediate sales goals. Some self promotion is ok as long as it’s deeply surrounded with service to others. By letting go of expectations, you allow yourself to be open to the serendipity of social media, while those who only try to promote themselves shut themselves off to all the opportunities out there.