I’ve always feared publicly putting myself out there because I assume people won’t like me or that they’ll think I’m a fraud.
I can trace this fear back to high school when people actually didn’t like me, for reasons unbeknownst to me. That scarring only thickened when I was regularly told during annual reviews that I come off as cold when people first meet me, and that my competency can be intimidating.
I also have resting bitch face.
This insecurity is a problem when trying to develop your own consulting practice since building a practice requires some level of publicity and self-promotion. In an attempt to overcome this fear, I’ve created a challenge for myself for the month of June. Admittedly, it’s a safe challenge, but a challenge nonetheless because it requires putting myself out there and using social media – two things I’m quite terrible at.
Challenge: Create one “little wins” themed Instagram post per day, hashtags and all.
About the Challenge: A “little win” is a moment of accomplishment that inspires you, incrementally builds your confidence, and/or makes your life, or the lives of people around you, better in some small way. One little win alone probably won’t change your day, your week, or your life, but they’re compounding. So the goal is to consistently create opportunities for little wins and add 30 hash marks to the ‘lw’ column between now and the end of June.
For the purposes of this challenge, it is important to note that only deliberate actions that improve my life, or the lives of others, count as little wins. What do I mean by this?
Yesterday, I found a dollar while walking my dog. In the broadest sense, this could count as a “little win” since I was one dollar richer. And while I may have been inspired to purchase a popsicle with my found dollar, it didn’t make me a better person, contribute to a larger purpose or goal, or make the world a better place so it doesn’t count.
“Little wins” can’t be accidents or coincidences. They need to be conscious and purposeful and contribute to some sort of betterment in an obvious way.
(As an aside, I think it’s funny I’m creating rules for this challenge since no one reads this blog or follows my Instagram).
What am I hoping to get out of this challenge? I’m hoping to be less self-conscious about putting myself out there, become more comfortable with social media, and create some content that people might find valuable or useful.
By setting a month long challenge I’m also looking to build on some of the momentum I created the second half of May. I don’t want to lose the feeling of possibility I’m currently experiencing. I don’t want to lose my nerve to act. So even though I don’t have everything figured out, and have lots of doubts about my ability to create a new piece of content every day for 30 days, I know I have to start and worry about the rest later.
If you happened to stumble upon this and want to follow along, I’ll be posting here and on Instagram at little_wins.