Taking Life with Chances

Self-promotion has always been a strange thing for me. I’ve always admired the people who ask for raises, go after promotions, negotiate higher salaries in interviews, or openly plug their passion projects.

Which is ironic, because if you start a blog or a podcast, self-promotion is pretty much part of the deal.

I’m not that person. I tend to fall into the “wait until someone notices” category, hoping my work will speak for itself.

When I set my goals for this year, I realized most of them require some level of self-promotion. This blog and the podcast are probably the hardest things for me to share. There’s a level of vulnerability that comes with both of them that feels uncomfortable.

It’s actually much easier sharing them with strangers on the internet than it is with people I know. Sending a link to friends or family and asking them to check it out makes me feel like I might shit my pants every time.

For some reason, I’ve always associated the term impostor syndrome with the corporate world. But as I’ve started spending more time in creative spaces, I’m realizing that feeling shows up here too — maybe even more so.

Writing has always been something I’ve loved. I have notebooks filled with short stories, characters, and ideas I’ve created over the years. Very rarely have I shared any of them. It’s always felt too personal.

And maybe that’s part of what makes sharing this blog feel like such a big step.

It’s turned out to be more personal than I originally intended, but maybe that’s part of the point. Maybe this is the small step that pushes me to share some of those stories that have been sitting in notebooks for years.

I actually pulled them out not that long ago to revisit them. There’s one in particular that I’ve always wanted to finish.

Maybe it’s time to see what happens if I do.