Are You Afraid of Clicking “Publish”?

Frequently during my corporate training sessions, or when I’m working with clients one-on-one, I’ll hear someone say:

Why should I publish my own content? Hasn’t it all been said before?

or they’ll say

I’m afraid of making a mistake. What happens if I publish something that ticks someone off and it affects my business?

These are two very natural thoughts, and the primary emotion here is the fear of rejection.

It’s hardwired into our psyche that we gravitate towards negative messaging and our fears. It’s one of the main reasons for the survival of any species!

But like the moment when Indiana Jones takes his first step onto that invisible walkway in “The Last Crusade”, we sometimes have to take that first step with blind faith and here’s why:

1. No one knows what YOU know from YOUR perspective.

We all have our own filters, experiences and talents that make up who we are and why people know, like and trust us. Your thoughts and opinions matter. That’s why you are successful! People WANT to hear from you. They want to know your perspective. When you aren’t sharing your insights, you’re actually depriving people from what they want!

2. Publishing your thoughts and perspectives position you as a thought leader (and you’ll convert more sales!).

I know it can be tough to put yourself out there and take a stand. Most of the time, we’re more comfortable in a face-to-face setting so people can understand the tone and context of our thoughts.

One of the most powerful aspects of Social Media is that you can reach all sorts of people that you cannot reach in a one-to-one setting. Social Media is “on” twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Think about the biggest problems and pains your clients have and share your thoughts or steps on how these problems can be solved.

The more you share, the better educated your clients are, and the more likely they will gravitate to you as the thought-leader who can handle their biggest challenges.

In this information-based economy, where anyone can Google anything – people don’t buy information, they buy implementation.

3. Everyone makes mistakes. EVERYONE.

You’ve probably heard anecdotes about how often the most successful people have “failed” in their life. Every time we “fail” we are further one step closer to success.

I use “fail” in quotation marks because as I learned with my NLP (neurolinguistic programming) training: There is no failure, there is only feedback.

Simply reframing failure into feedback certainly takes the weight off!

4. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” – Lao Tzu

The first time I had to speak in public, I was very nervous. So was the first time I click “send” on my very first blog post. After hundreds of speaking engagements and even more blog posts, I no longer fear “putting myself out there”.

My message may not be the right fit for everyone, and that’s OK. I only want to work with and align my business with the people who DO “get me”.

Success with anything is built over time. Keep at it, and I promise you’ll find your groove.

And, to round off these four reasons why you need to “put yourself out there”, here are two quotes to combat any nerves you have about negative feedback:

Theodore Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Gary Vaynerchuk:

I respect my haters.

It certainly takes the power away from those who “troll” and leave negative comments. If they aren’t slugging it out day-to-day, doing what you do, then they have no right to comment.

I’m completely open to opposing views – it’s great to start a healthy dialogue. I certainly don’t have all the answers. I only have answers for what’s true to me.

And finally, you may have published messages and think they are just going out into the “ether”, and that no one is actually listening, but you’ll be surprised as to how many people actually DO pay attention to what you have to say.

Less than 1% of the population actually engage online. So even if they aren’t providing feedback, people are reading what you have to say.

Who knows….the one message you share today, could really make a huge impact on someone else’s tomorrow – so get started!

Now it’s your turn: Has there ever been a time in your life you ever turned a fear of doing something into a huge accomplishment? What was that accomplishment? How did you feel?

Are You Afraid of Clicking “Publish”?