Build In Public
Perfectionism is the thief of growth. Perfectionism holds us back from releasing certain ideas out into the public. In this blog post, we will discuss why building in public can be valuable in the long run.
Building in public allows you to build community. Community is what we need, especially with the current loneliness epidemic. People are lonely; people are committing suicide at higher rates. People constantly feel like they need to have it all together, but every now and then, when you see people being real on the internet, it reminds you that we’re all just regular people behind the screens.
I remember when I was working on my first blog, I had no clue what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to share my work with the world because I felt my words mattered. I remember filming videos in my bedroom before I had any type of professional equipment. I’ll get in front of the window for lighting purposes and film content. I had nothing scripted; I just spoke from the heart and let things flow out.
It’s important that we as people show the realness of life. Social media is all make-believe. People are using filters 24/7, flexing things they don’t own, and editing their pictures to the latest trend. We need more people building in public and sharing your raw stories and failures.
I think to myself daily, why is it that 18-year-olds feel so much pressure to have it all together, and it’s because of what’s reflected online. People share half-truths on the web, and society glamorizes quick fixes, get-rich-quick schemes, the latest fad diets, and so much more. In a world that shares half-truths, share your whole truth- how long did it take you to lose all that weight? What steps did you take to build your business to make $10,000 per month? How long did it take you to get out of your own way to start building the project you always dreamt of?
When creating my first website, I had no clue what I was doing, but I put out the first iteration. People complimented me and celebrated me not because the website was beautiful but because I shared my story of how I didn’t have a web development background and things, in the beginning, are scrappy, so you use what you have and do what you can to make things work. Things don’t have to be perfect in the beginning. They just need to get it done. Remind yourself you have to start somewhere. It’s not on day one that you’ll get all the success you’re striving for. It takes practice and consistency.
Lastly, it takes extending grace to yourself. Understand that all that glitters isn’t gold. Also, your step 1 isn’t going to look like someone else’s step 1. We’re all at different levels in life, and that relates to everything: fitness, personal branding, supporters, credentials, etc. Don’t compare yourself to someone else when you don’t know their history and what they’ve done to get to where they are. That’s the beauty of life: we’re all different and have our own special secret sauce that makes us all work great together.
The final point is not to feel the need to share every single detail but to be real. Not everyone deserves to know everything about you, but people do deserve to hear the parts of your story that will reassure them that everything will turn out okay.
We’re all living the human experience, this comes with every emotion and every thought embrace that and lean into it as you build.
