I see you, sitting there on your phone, computer or tablet thinking about how you want to share something. Something to positively impact someone else in a conversation, a blog, article or video. You want to “say something”… be edgy, inspirational, profound.
But you’re holding back
(aka…reading my post while simultaneously playing puppy videos).
You’re a being weenie.
Trust me, I’ve been a professional weenie, and it’s not as glamorous as you’d think.
I’ve held back my thoughts, downplayed my words, and self-edited my comments because I was afraid of being judged.
I get it.
It’s scary to put yourself out there in a world where you’re guaranteed to be judged. Where you know you’ll come across someone who doesn’t like what you have to say or who feels bad about themselves and tries to make you feel bad with crappy comments.
You’re afraid that:
- you won’t say the “right” thing
- no one cares
- you’ll get nasty comments
- you’ll be perceived as__________________ (insert nasty adjective here)
- some else is already doing…
Ah, the crap that goes on in our heads when we think about sharing our stuff.
You are judging yourself. It’s the nasty little voice inside your head that keeps you from saying what you want to say, not so much the judgement of others, that holds you back.
Because, if we’re honest, we get judged by each other a lot.
For instance, you started judging me the moment you saw this post pop up.
“Did she really...
-use “weenie” in a LinkedIn professional post?
-call me a weenie?
-post a picture of a weenie with a mustard smiley face?
-tell me I’m judgy?”
Yep. I sure did! And the thought of you judging me for this post isn’t nearly as scary as what I said to myself as I wrote it.
You see, if you’re like me, no troll, no friend, colleague or random stranger is going to judge me harder than I will judge myself.
Our self-judgment is, more often than not, much worse than the judgment of others.
So what do we do about it?
There’s a quick way to silence that snarky inner critic of yours. Ask that voice inside your head this one simple question…“Is that really true?”
That’s it.
Shuts her up real quick.
When you take the time to ask yourself if all the judgy crap that’s running through your brain is really true, you’ll figure out that the vast majority of it, if not all of it, isn’t.
And, if there are bits of truth rolling around in there… like “posting pictures of hot dogs on LinkedIn is not the norm,” then you get to decide what to do about it. No one else.
Now, get outta here. Share YOUR thing with the world. Someone needs to hear what you say, the way you say it… right now.
P.S. How do you silence your inner critic? What runs through your head when you’re putting yourself out there for the world to see? Share in the comments below and, if you are digging these crazy posts, click on follow button to the right and never miss a post.
*This post is written in honor of my friend Stefanie who’s putting it out there for all the world to see.