“It ain’t about how hard you can hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Rocky
Show Your Work!”by Austin Kleon
I heard about this book and author listening to Ali Abdaal’s podcast. The book is basically the pep talk you didn’t know you needed—like when your mum slaps your phone out of your hand and says, “Stop scrolling and do your homework”
Kleon’s big idea is this: you don’t have to be a genius to get noticed. Phew, right? That rules out 95% of my imposter syndrome. He says the secret to success isn’t hiding in a cave working on a masterpiece for 10 years—it’s sharing your creative process as you go. Even if it’s messy. Especially if it’s messy. People love messy. (Just ask any reality TV producer.)
The book gives us the ten holy commandments for getting your stuff out there without turning into an unbearable self-promoting git.
Here’s the lowdown:
1.You Don’t Have to Be a Genius – Relax. You’re not Leonardo da Vinci, and that’s okay. Kleon says creativity thrives in communities—what he calls a “scenius.” Find your creative weirdos. Join the party. Bring snacks.
My first tik tok account about a restaurant I ran would barely get more than 200 views had I had 200 visitors a day coming to my restaurant I would have been a millionaire in a very short amount of time, after selling that failed project, I then created a new TikTok account featuring my cat Bella and guess what I would easily get 1000s of visits daily! So start posting.
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
My restaurant pics were great but Bella’s helped more people and hence got more views one particular post showed me massaging coconut oil into her fur to stop her from getting fleas coconut oil being natural way to prevent fleas and improve cat’s fur was obviously more helpful than a cake pic
In today’s digital world, online hate can feel like a personal attack that leaves emotional bruises long after the screen’s been switched off. But NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) sorry about the shameless plug! But NLP offers powerful techniques to help shift perspective, build resilience, and take back control of your emotional state.(More detailed blogs on these techniques coming up)
One of the first tools to reach for is Reframing/ Anchoring/Swish Pattern/ Sub-Modailities, Perceptual positions, the Meta Model all of these techniques don’t just help you cope—they empower you to stay grounded in your own values, unshaken by the emotional chaos others try to project. And best of all, each one is a tool you can learn, practice, and call on any time you need.
Bottom line: Show Your Work! is your permission slip to be visible, vulnerable, and real. So stop overthinking and start oversharing—strategically, of course.
