WHAT DOES IT REALLY TAKE TO GET YOUR WORK OUT INTO THE WORLD?

It’s so easy to see someone land that TEDx talk and think, “that should have been me.”

They land a book deal, and you think, “that should have been me.” They get a Forbes feature, and you think, “that should have been me.” 

It’s 100% possible to be wildly thrilled for someone and still feel that tinge of envy about an opportunity we want for ourselves. 

That’s natural! We see the happy ending and compare our messy middle with it, and our brains are hardwired to do that.

But what about what we don’t see? The bits that come before the Instagram-worthy end goal. 

The loneliness, the rejection, the showing up to do the work when no one is paying attention. The envy that happens when you see someone less qualified get opportunities you want. The frustration when people don’t “get” your work. 

What we don’t see is the people showing up to advocate for their work day-in-day-out. We don’t see the rejected TEDx pitches, podcast pitches, book proposals, the potential clients who say no. 

Let’s shine a light on the messy middle - on the work that happens when no one is watching (or applauding or heck, even liking our posts).

I was so struck by Derek Siever’s How to Start a Movement TED Talk, in which he shows a “lone nut” - a dude dancing like no one is watching, and then someone joins him (almost instantaneously). 

But here’s what you don’t see: that’s not exactly how it went down.

That guy was letting his freak flag fly for a good 5 minutes before someone else joined in. He wasn’t looking around, hoping, or even paying attention to anybody else. The dude just kept dancing. And eventually, he was surrounded by people dancing just like him. He inspired a movement.