Building in public is harder than expected: But I still want to try
Originally published on Substack
Build in public, take people on the journey with you, show don’t tell - all great advice that I appreciate when content creators follow it. But when I tried to “show not tell” in 2024, I didn’t do it.
Building in public is harder and scarier than it looks.
So I instead tried to figure out what was so hard for me about sharing my works in progress so I could try again in 2025.
Why it’s so hard
Why is sharing in public so hard? Well, I’m black, an oldest daughter, and autistic so I’m used to keeping my ideas and feelings to myself. I only share projects when complete and proven successful.
My feelings are not easy to share verbally, they make little sense when I barely know what I’m feeling. My ideas are more feelings and thoughts, not fully fledged Asana projects with clear tasks. After too many confused faces and people not knowing how to respond to my excited words, I learned to not share. My personal journal was the only one who got to know what I was doing. And everyone else? The finished product spoke for me — this is what I wanted to do.
Now, I’m better at identifying and articulating my feelings but I don’t answer basic questions as expected, questions like “What’s the goal of this Substack? What do you want in 5 years?”
The real answer is “I don’t know. I want to see what it becomes. I felt like it. I needed to write and share.”
That’s not a good Shark Tank contestant answer but it’s the intuitive truth.
Why I want to try anyways
So even though sharing in public won’t be easy, why do I still want to try?
Well, hard doesn’t scare me. I like to try hard things.
I also love seeing other works in progress and learned so much from them. This is my way to pay that forward to someone else.
Also, I’m not starting from scratch. I’ve been sharing my works in progress the last few years at home with my husband. His encouragement has helped me feel brave enough to try.
What’s next
So how am I going to share? My idea is to write a “What I’m learning now” post where I share what I’m reading currently, courses I’m taking or thinking about taking, new ideas or skills I want to try - anything that’s a work in progress.
I also have a YouTube channel @AneishaWonders- another new idea I’m trying - and may share there too.
I don’t know.
I’m not sure yet.
But I hope you join me as I figure it out.
Follow me on YouTube
YouTube is something new I’m trying because I just had to try: https://youtube.com/@aneishawonders