Never Be Shy To Share Your Work Again
People need the good stuff you create.
I used to be shy about my work because of two things.
First, I thought that my writing was not something that I could be ‘proud of’. There are many more artists out there who are way better, who have been writing for a longer time and deserve readers' attention. Second, I was scared of ‘what people will say’ about what I thought. Will they think I’m weird? Exaggerated? Overdramatic?
The book Show Your Work by Austin Kleon gave me a better reason for sharing what I create. No, the book did not make me proud of my work, nor did it remove my fear of what people will say.
It did, however, make me feel more at ease with knowing that my work is out there and people — writers — could be reading what I’ve written. The book made me comfortable.
Here are my 3 takeaways from this book:
Focus on the process and progress, not just the product.
When I started writing for Medium back in November, I started using these tools to make me more organized. This month I made a ‘positive writing habits tracker’ (I love trackers and lists so much!). It helps me see if I am able to write daily and if I am promoting my articles to my network.
It’s very old school and it looks like this:
Every day (or almost), I make sure I do these tasks. If I succeed in doing this for the next 6 months, every single day, then these activities would be part of my system, then I can stop tracking. The goal is to make this tracker obsolete and make these habits part of my day. That’s how I made yoga and cycling every morning a part of my system. Now, I don’t track if I practiced yoga or cycled, I just do them.
American comedian Jerry Seinfeld said ‘The way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. After a few days, you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.’ There was no focus on the results, only on consistency and progress.
Try not to break the chain.
Share something small every day.
Even if it’s tiny, even if you feel like no one will ever notice even after 10 years, share. You never know! According to Austin Kleon, sharing is an act of generosity. If you see sharing as a way of giving, it’s easier to do.
I use Twitter, Quora, and LinkedIn for this. It could be an article I’ve written recently or an article that I found to be helpful in my own writing practice.
Things that you can share with your friends and followers are your influences, inspiring artwork, book recommendations. Tell your friends about the books you loved and the authors you admire. Give credit to the people who taught you to be better. People are looking for the good stuff, and the world is never out of it.
Share something small every day.
Don’t quit. Just keep doing it.
One thing that practicing Ashtanga yoga has taught me is that practice never fails. The act of practicing should be welcomed like an old friend. I still find it difficult to practice yoga on a daily basis, especially because I practice by myself at home. There’s no teacher, no classmates, just me moving and breathing, sweating like crazy in my quiet room. When I get lucky, my dog, Peanut joins me.
What I know for sure is this — the more I practice, the stronger I get. The more I practice, the more comfortable I am with the poses and then they get easier in time.
I’ve made writing a priority because I want to get better and I want to be more comfortable at it.
Practice has become my favorite word. We must simply keep doing it.
If you are feeling shy about what you create, tell yourself that someone might find it helpful. Someone might know a friend or a family member who needs it. Everyone that’s online today has an incredibly vast network (without knowing it) and once your work reaches the right person, the right audience, you know the hard work was all worth it.
Focus on your progress, share one thing every day, and don’t quit!
Publish. Share. Show.
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I am sharing the books that I read and enjoyed last year here:
Odyssa writes, practices Ashtanga yoga, and works remotely.
Follow her tweets here. Subscribe to her weekly letters to hear her thoughts on Ashtanga yoga, shifting from the office desk to remote work, writing (of course) plus bits and pieces of her personal life.
