LinkedIn Post got viral
One of my LinkedIn post became viral last week.
Am I surprised? Yes.
Am I proud? Yes and No.
I appreciate the sharing, the thoughts, and the comments. Some are really good. Some are... rolls eyes.
Yet, I am not proud of the “virality” of the post because I believe LinkedIn favored some keywords (which I am still not sure what they are), it caught momentum and the algorithm did most of the work.
In short, it was elements beyond my control.
Writing that post took 15 minutes? I didn’t expect it to be any different compared to other posts I wrote.
What I am proud of is noticing how far I’ve come in sharing my thoughts online.
I used to care so much about what others may think about what I wrote.
I used to feel so cautious about putting myself out there.
I used to babysit my post to see how many people engaged with my post.
It was such a stressful thing.
When more people engaged, I felt that it was a good post.
When fewer people engaged, I felt defeated, especially if I spent a lot of time on it.
My sense of worth was fluctuating depending on how others responded to me.
It wasn’t healthy.
Then, I received a very helpful tip.
If I believed that what I wrote was true, helpful to just 1 person and was done lovingly, respectfully, that’s good enough.
It shifted my focus.
I was focusing on doing good work instead of trying to please others.
I started to believe in the value of my work and believing in myself.
I wasn’t expecting recognition and that gave me freedom.
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.
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When that post went viral, I did have some flutter in my stomach on the first day looking at the engagement rising exponentially. It’s the first time after all.
Then, it normalized pretty quickly and I was writing as usual.
It was then I caught myself and felt proud :)
I am proud that I am not hung up about creating another viral post.
I am proud that the viral engagement metrics did not make me feel much better about myself and my work.
This experience made me realize, oh, I am not solely validating my worth via external metrics anymore!
That feels awesome.
It’s such a great reminder that when you free yourself from trying too hard to please and just focus on doing good work that you believe in, it’s empowering.
Recognition is great but it’s beyond your circle of control.
Celebrate it but don’t desperately rely on it for motivation.
Anchor on your values, your growth, and your goals and focus on what’s within your circle of control.
And take one step at a time.
Back to my routine of writing, learning, showing up, serving!
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