When the Applause Fades
The Diary of A Mad Learning & Development Specialist Volume 2 Issue 14
Looking over my recent posts, I saw that some of the most recent ones had no comments or likes.
The feeling of “Is this even working?” entered my mind and then started to take up camp.
I’m sure others who create struggle with this feeling as well.
Then I read something that made me stop and really sit with what I was feeling. A professional friend wrote it in her Substack.
What do I want to keep building when no one is applauding?
This hit me like a ton of bricks.
It’s easy to lean into something when people are cheering us on. But what about when that’s not happening?
Do we continue to do what will grab attention, build our network, or act like we’ve figured it all out?
Basically taking a business-first approach to even our personality and the things we love?
I believe it’s time for us to take back a human-centered approach to ourselves.
This means building things that don’t just clap, but bring you joy, light you on fire, and are completely you. Instead of building only for likes, comments, views, and impressions.
I’ve started accepting that things will come when we show up as ourselves.
The book Show Your Work talks about finding your people as part of being an artist in our craft.
I ask: how are they supposed to find your people if you are never yourself?
As Volume 2 continues and comes to an end soon, and as I move into Volume 3, I plan on changing to take this human-centered approach.
Longer form content so we can sit in the madness more. This will allow us to go deeper into subjects and grow together.
Leaning more into the things I love. Passion will allow me to dig into topics I actually care about. You won’t get generic ideas pulled from the LinkedIn timeline. You’ll get topics I’ve lived with, struggled with, or am still struggling with. To help the people in the middle. Which I think is most of us.
So I’ll propose the same question to you:
What do I want to keep building when no one is applauding?
Credit for Substack Post referenced:
