Let me guess.
You want to create content but are scared of what people will think?
I get it. I've been there.
I remember when I first started writing online, I published to a poorly-designed WordPress site with virtually no SEO. I knew it'd be impossible for people to find my stuff. No judging eyes. That made it easy to ship.
In 2021, I moved my writing to a more social platform: Medium. And compared to publishing my pieces into the void that was my WordPress site, posting on Medium felt like the entire world was watching me.
Every time I went to publish a new piece, I hesitated.
I felt like everyone's eyes were on me. I imagined that once I hit post, hordes of people would judge me for using a semicolon instead of an em dash. Above all else, I felt like my writing had to be perfect before I sent it out into the world.
And so I would go back to editing my piece. Many times, that piece never ended up getting published.
But my online writing career didn't stay that way forever. Eventually, something clicked.
I stopped doubting myself whenever my cursor hovered the "Publish" button. I stopped scrolling through my piece to check for logical flaws. I stopped second guessing my choice of esoteric punctuation.
I stopped hiding and I started shipping.
My goal with this letter is to explain the three limiting beliefs you need to break if you want to start shipping with confidence.
Let's dive in.
1. "The whole world is watching"
No one is looking at your stuff.
How do I know?
Well, you read the intro of this letter and kept reading. I'd say it's a safe bet that you're no MrBeast when it comes to content. (If I'm wrong, kudos to you.)
My point is, when you're just getting started with creating content, you're not going to have a lot of eyes on you. That's just how content recommendation algorithms work.
When you open YouTube without signing in, you get recommended MrBeast videos, not a video with 14 views of Billy Bob reviewing the latest burger from Wendy's in his car.
When you're just getting started, you are Billy Bob.
And that's a good thing. That means you don't have tons of viewership. You don't have a loyal fan base. You don't have people expecting something from you.
In other words, you don't have pressure.
So the next time you feel like the entire world is looking over your shoulder right before you hit publish, remember Billy Bob.
No one is watching Billy Bob. No one is watching you.
2. "I need to please everyone"
"If you want to build an audience, you must repel another."
I read that while scrolling through my X feed one day, and initially, I didn't think much of it.
But it didn't take long to realize that I was implementing it myself.
At the time, I was writing about Stoicism on Substack (very original, I know). And I'll admit it: some of the posts I made were very hustle culture-y. You know, the "wake up at 5 AM, delete social media, be a monk" type of thing.
Some of my readers gave me feedback that those pieces were too preachy. Valid criticism.
But I didn't change the entire topic of my Substack just because some people didn't like my content.
It's futile to try pleasing everyone.
Some people like self-improvement content. Others prefer watching streamers play video games. Others would rather consume videos of people traveling the world.
All of these interests are valid. But you can't capture all of these people with the content you create.
By attracting one kind of person, you inherently repel another.
If some people don't like your stuff, that's okay. In fact, that's a good sign.
It means you're attracting the right tribe.
3. "This needs to be perfect before I post it"
Have you ever met someone who got in shape after one perfect bench press rep?
If you have, please send them my way. Although I'm willing to wager you haven't.
When I first got into the gym, I looked like an idiot. I was doing everything wrong: Bad form, random program, terrible split (bench pressing every day), the list goes on.
But I never would have gotten to where I am now had I not started. Had I not showed up and did that first, shitty rep.
Doing reps is how you get better. Yes, the first one is shitty, but at least shitty is iterable. You can improve from a shitty first rep.
You cannot, however, improve from an imaginary "perfect" rep that you never did.
And it's the same with creating content.
To write the introduction for this letter, I had to confirm the year that I started writing on Medium.
So I went to my Medium posts and scrolled all the way down.
And there it was. My first post, made in January of 2021.
Inevitably, I ended up clicking on some of my old pieces. And wow, were they bad.
I mean truly atrocious writing. I wrote in these huge chunky paragraphs filled with jargon and long sentences that made you want to instantly click away.
But I only get to call my writing atrocious because I started hitting post. If I never did, we wouldn't be here.
I get to look back on that Medium story because I told myself: "This doesn't need to be perfect."
Hopefully, a few years down the line, I get to look back on this piece and call it atrocious, too.
Whatever you're working on right now, remember: It doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to exist.
Hit post.