The Lies I Told Myself About LinkedIn

My hand shakes slightly as I grasp my cup. I sip the coffee. It’s too hot, but it gives comfort. House music is playing softly in the background. People are happily chatting around me. Oblivious to the increasing anxiety in my soul.?

I’m sitting at my desk. Laptop left forlornly on my left. Pens and scrap paper on my right. It’s 11am and the sun is shining.?

I have been staring at my screen for the last hour desperate to finish writing this bloody post. Multiple sadists have convinced me that I need to do this. I bet they're laughing now.

Ok. That’s it. I’ve had enough. Like I’ve done the previous five times, I move my mouse to close the browser. But my hand betrays me and my finger traitorously clicks on Post.

I see my face pop up on LinkedIn and my real face pales, my eyes go wide. David asks what’s wrong.

I’ve just published my first “marketing” LinkedIn post.?

Everything in me demands I take it down. But I’m committed. I’ve made promises. I’ve paid people literally thousands of dollars to help me get over the screaming inner voice.

And that was Post One.?

Why was I so scared of posting on LinkedIn? Even now, it’s hard to parse. But in the interest of making myself super uncomfortable, let’s dig right into it.

Battling the Inner Critic (and Losing)

When I first started trying to write a post, my self-doubts were hidden. They were insidious because they disguised themselves as logical issues with every post.

People see a hundred things a day on LinkedIn, so you’d better make sure this post is outstanding.

You need to include X or explain Y more. Did you include references?

Not sure you’ve got the expertise to cover this topic, maybe just file it away for later.

Oh you can’t say that, people might think this. Best to start again.

Every thought seemed logical but when you put them all together; it stopped my posting every time. For. Two. Months. I started to get annoyed.

There was something else going on in my head. I was trying to deal with the symptoms but not the cause. I wasn’t honest about the real reasons why I wasn’t posting. And with the busyness of every day, it was easy to cover up.

An honest conversation - Kim vs Kim.

I’ve taken mindfulness courses a few times in my life, and one practice stuck with me. I call it “Stop Lying [to Yourself] Dick” (not the official name—it’s something like the Five Why’s).

The idea is simple. You take some time out, grab pen and paper and write out the situation. Just get what’s happening down on paper. And then, you ask yourself “Why?”. And again, you write that out. And you repeat the “Why?” question 3, 4 or 10 times.

For me, my initial answers were rubbish. But as I kept digging, the real fears began to show up, and I knew I’d hit something real when my gut clenched. These fears started to pop out:

• Imposter Syndrome: Thinking that I didn’t have enough knowledge to post about anything.
• Social Anxiety: This is a professional network, what am I doing on here? People are going to judge, criticise and start avoiding me.
• Self Doubt Fueling Perfectionism: A constant cycle of editing the post until it gets picked apart. And then starting again.

The exercise is a pain in the arse. But it helped me to identify the real reasons why I wasn’t posting. Now I could start tackling the fears one by one - with a little help, of course.

New Kim - The Kim That Posts

Ok, so I have at least identified the issues stopping me from posting. How can I get around them? Let’s state the issue clearly.

How do I post knowing that I'll get anxious and feel like an imposter which will lead to endless rounds of editing and no posting.        

After a LOT of trial and error, here’s some of the things I started doing:

• Brought in the professionals - I was new to the platform and new to posting. But there must be people out there who are doing a great job. Why not catch up with them and get some advice? Massive shout out to Chanel Clark , Javier Yébenes? , Jon Randles and Tina Comrie - all of whom were amazing with their time, advice and guidance.
• Changed the content format - Writing was hard. So why not change up the type of content? I’ve been banging on about video for years and I happened to know Bronson Wilson , who has the job of getting reluctant CEOs in front of the camera for LinkedIn.?
• Focusing on being Kim - It was hard to be an “expert” all the time. But I could be Kim. Maybe people would engage with me just being as authentically ‘me’ as I could. I could answer questions and talk about things I had honest opinions and feelings about. Share my personal experiences.
• Create content OUTSIDE of LinkedIn - Planning and creating content on LinkedIn was too much. I started putting aside a couple of days a month to create content for the month ahead.?
• Getting someone else to post for me - This was the crucible: The point at which I struggled the most. So I cheated. I got someone else to post for me, sidestepping the issue entirely. Ha!

Finding My Feet With Posting

The first month was still painful. But the content creation wheel started turning. I had a little system and I had help. After 2 - 3 months, I started caring a lot less.

Post does well? Great.

Post does poorly? Cool.?

It’ll be forgotten soon. When I look back now at all the emotional energy I put into those fears, I have to laugh. None of those fears have materialised.?

I was putting up these artificial blocks in my own head. Blocks that were stopping me from moving forward.

Now? 10 months down the track and over 100 videos filmed??

My desk is still messy. My too-hot coffee is never far from reach. I am still staring at a screen but I have little issue with posting now. In fact, now I just post stuff. No rewrites, no 2am panic attacks, no concerned staff members glancing at me worriedly.?

Freedom really was on the other side of those fears. The scariest step is the first one—but once you take it, the rest is just coffee-fueled momentum.

Final thoughts

Oh but how effective was posting you ask? Did it generate any leads??

I’ll get into it in my next article but let’s say it was well worth the emotional angst, the money and time I poured in.

Did you ever have anything trivial you just couldn’t seem to get around? Feel free to share! You’ll find a sympathetic ear ??