What not hiding under a rock feels like
- Feb 25
- 9 min read
Updated: Mar 6
When I started my career I was never on LinkedIn. I was more focussed on learning, doing things and getting to know all these new people I got to work with. It took me several years to download the LinkedIn app and start using it. Even when I used it, I was more of a passive user checking updates and moving on. It also felt like a platform people used mainly to share announcements and updates of "success".
Most LinkedIn posts would start with:
I'm happy to announce I got promoted to....
I'm grateful to be at this event today....
I'm excited to have the opportunity to...
I feel privileged for...
I'm honoured to...
While these posts and updates are actually good to know what your network is up to, it also made the experience less genuine.
Like we show up only when we have something really cool and nice to "announce" to the world.
Then I quit my corporate full-time job and in the last year or so of being self-employed, showing up on socials has been everything for me. It's actually important that I don't hide under a rock as how would people know how I can help them if they don't know what I do and why I do it?! For someone who naturally just prefers to get the work done and not have to share everything on socials, it's been a journey for me in discovering my voice and owning it.
This is the 14th article in this newsletter that I launched with my private coaching practice for Unhidden Potential. Showing up on socials has been one of my goals last year that I've worked on steadily and feel like I finally have an enjoyable and manageable rhythm. I've been reflecting on my journey and as usual sharing my thoughts helps me clarify things, renew energies for the next phase and hopefully also inspires you in your own journey.
Learnings:
What I have learned so far from my journey of showing up on socials...
🧱 Being courageous to not wait for "good news" to post:
Knowing this is what most people use LinkedIn for, I honed into all the courage I could muster to break this pattern for myself. Personally I'm so big on encouraging and celebrating progress in others however big or small. Progress more than the shiny achievement or end results!!
We often don't hear about someone's journey until they have become successful and then the spotlight is so easily on them. I'm so much more interested in hearing about and appreciating the steps people take in building those journeys NOT AFTER they have made it but before and during. This isn't easy and far less visible, but it's what I wanted to role model in my own journey and how I showed up on social media.
🌟 Trusting myself and not relying on external validation:
When I look back around this time last year, I would share a draft of my LinkedIn posts and articles with my husband to get his thoughts. His feedback did help me to make changes and improve the writing for my message to be better conveyed. But then I realised by doing this, I was in a way seeking validation and encouragement to go ahead and just post. Somewhere along the way, I stopped doing this and learned to trust myself more.
Seeking validation comes in many forms though. Its important and not always easy to not focus on the likes and engagement as it's feedback to know if what you shared was valuable (or likeable??). What helped me shift this is also the informal feedback I received when someone just tells me without prompting how what I shared a month ago resonated with them. Know that people are reading and the ones who find your content helpful may not always engage with it. I don't anymore worry about checking likes. I have even deleted LinkedIn on my phone and made it a "work tool" that I use only when I'm in front of my laptop.
🤡 Accepting imperfection as a sign of progress not failure:
I've experimented a bit last year with socials. I used and continue to use Instagram as my playground to experiment with content that I then slowly adapt and bring to LinkedIn. As a new account I don't have many followers and it felt less awkward to share reels.
I remember the first talking reels I shared where the background music was so loud my voice couldn't even be heard or when I had increased the video speed to shorten the duration that my voice sounded like I was running a race! Rookie mistakes which I resisted the urge to correct. These videos remain on my Instagram Business Account as proof that beginnings don't have to be perfect. Also thank goodness for captions so my message isn't fully lost! Now I look back at what I shared months ago with appreciation for where I was at the time and am able to easily accept and ignore any imperfections.
😌 Embodying my identity as a coach:
This one again is a journey that I have wanted to be on. In the past I have rarely ever shared work related stuff on my personal social media. That changed last year. I felt like being a coach was now becoming part of my identity. At some point I mustered the courage to start sharing some of my content to my personal social media account. Over time it became ok and something important starting taking shape. I felt like my identity as a coach and how my journey was shaping through my own inner work was becoming a real thing.
I still remember the first article in this newsletter accompanied the words "this feels like I'm exposing myself...". Yes it felt vulnerable. Was I over sharing? Did anyone even care? Turns out people do care as what I share is what makes me human and it's what many of us feel and go through. And the ones who don't care, they can unfollow me - it's a free world.
☑️ Setting realistic goals, honouring consistency in the long run:
When I set out to use socials I was very sure of one thing. I didn't want it to feel too onerous like what's advised out there - "you have to post every day or 3-4 times a week etc.". I knew I didn't want to be a super frequent poster, neither am I aspiring to become a content creator or influencer. I just want to share my journey, help people understand how coaching can help them and mostly just contribute to how we can enjoy stepping outside our comfort zones for what matters to us.
So I chose NOT TO post weekly LinkedIn articles, just once a month and even that I'm at 80% last year which is good enough. I chose not to post 2-3 times a week on LinkedIn, just spontaneous sharing and more recently started a weekly #FridayThoughts series which helps me with a regular reflective practice and clarity. The takeaway here for me is to set the frequency that feels right for where I am and be ok if I am not at a 100%. I would rather be consistent in the long run than go full out and then disappear because I am not feeling like it anymore.
💛 Sharing from the heart, not from AI:
In a time when content creation and writing is spit out with such ease, it's even more important to stay true to your genuine and authentic voice. My mantra is "less is more" and choose meaning over quantity any day. This might mean I don't grow my follower count as quickly or not be liked by the algorithm. I'm OK with that.
All my articles are written and edited by me. I don't use AI for this. Again my intent of sharing on social media is partly selfishly to help me with my own clarity and reflective practice. I love it and I know I will lose the love of it if I started churning out articles using AI.
I am not all anti-AI though. I do use it to structure some content based on my ideas and direction. Then I edit the output to make it more human and more me. This for me is a smart way to use AI especially for short form content that I repurpose across LinkedIn and Instagram.
Challenges:
Learning and experiencing things don't come without challenges. Here are some of the challenges I've worked on and can say it's still a work in progress some days.
🕰️ Procrastination:
Almost all the time, the momentum comes with starting - not just thinking about it. When I start a draft in Canva or in LinkedIn is when I find the words flow and ideas come to life. Sometimes in ways I didn't think of before. Getting started can be a long drawn process though. Something that gets put on the back burner when there's other things to do - and there's always other things to do than share something on socials. An example is 'consuming content instead of creating'. At times I find myself with my procrastination hat scrolling through when I could actually be creating content.
🎀 Perfectionism:
I love a bit of structure which can be helpful but can also stall progress. When I set out to build my social presence, I had this formula in mind of how I wanted to share articles and posts. Soon I realised this wasn't working. Waiting to read a book to write about the book in an article was delaying everything. It also made me rethink as to what was the main value in my sharing - book reviews are easily searched online but the intent of my sharing is more personal. I would also get hung up on how things looked or read, stressing about detail which didn't matter really, at least not at the expense of not putting out content. I even wrote an article on perfectionism as it was a time I needed to get out of my head and just do stuff.
👀 Judgement:
Others don't care as much or if they shared a negative feedback, I didn't care much either. It's just a post, an article, an opinion, a story - something that's personal and not meant to strike a chord with everyone. When it comes to judgement, I realised the worst judge or critic is I, me and myself! I had to tame my own judge, accepting what's "good enough" in the interest of showing up and taking action.
🙇🏽 Overthinking:
Having downtime is really good for creativity and yes, getting bored and sleeping over things does help for new ideas to spark. However too much time isn't helpful either if that time is used to think way too deeply about what next to share. It's a balance - one I'm still learning. There are weeks I feel like I don't have to try too hard and there are others when it feels like a block. Some days I get bored thinking what's even the point. Other days I'm energised knowing this is going to mean something and help someone out there. What I want to get more consistent at is leverage the 'up' days to create content for future sharing to make up for the 'stuck' days.
Overall this is a journey for the long run like you know the next many many years. It's important that I feel strongly passionate and find the rhythm that doesn't lead to boredom or burnout to stay consistent. Doing anything with a clear, compelling and meaningful intrinsic driver is what works for me to keep going as I can easily get bored otherwise.
Posting on social media is just an action driven by a purpose.
I often hear from peers "I should post more on socials" "I started strong then couldn't keep up" "I could just use AI to share stuff regularly?" "I just don't know what I would be writing about". This sounds cliché but consider starting with the WHY you want to post. Why does it even matter to you? How would it help YOU before it helps anyone else? If the answer isn't clear, then don't worry about not posting enough. Go figure out your purpose, your driver...
💭 What is a goal in your wish-list that's been put on the back burner? How can you connect it to what it means for YOU to unlock a sustainable intrinsic motivation driver?
Hello👋🏽 Thank you for reading this far! I'm Anne, passionate about helping people grow and get addicted to living outside their comfort zone for what matters to them. I do this through coaching, sharing thoughts and most importantly leading by example in my own life. 🌱
Feeling ready to take courageous steps towards your WHAT-IFs? ✨ Reach out for a chemistry check and to see if coaching is the right fit for you: DM me on LinkedIn, Instagram or email anne@unhiddenpotential.com.