Seeking perfection was always something that plagued me in the early days of my writing career. I always felt like I had to be the smartest person on the internet, the best writer, and the most knowledgeable in my domain.
This led to me overthinking almost everything I wrote. I would go on these longwinded rants, my thesaurus by my side, writing prose as if I were the modern-day Chaucer. Turns out, I’m not the modern-day Chaucer. I can’t be Chaucer any more than I can be you. I’m me and that’s all I’ll ever be.
The problem with trying too hard to be someone other than yourself is that it’s inauthentic. And inauthenticity is a finite resource. When you cut yourself out of the content creation process the well will eventually dry up. It’s inevitable.
When everything must be a masterpiece, when each article or video must be the end-all-be-all authority on a topic, you’ll stop publishing content. It’s all just too much cognitive load to bear.
So, what should you do? The answer is short but frustratingly difficult at times…
Just be yourself.
You have a life. You have experiences. You have a business. You have a service or a product. You solve problems every day for your customers. Talk about that stuff. Use it. Let it guide you on your content creation journey.
Incorporate your anecdotes. Tell the stories that made you who you are. Talk about the things you did that day. The conversation you had with a client. The problem you’ve been noodling on. The bright idea you had that’s so crazy it just might work.
That’s the stuff that makes content interesting and unique. Everyone gets so caught up in having to come across as this or that, but that’s not the assignment. The assignment is to be relatable and engaging.
Of course, we want to educate and inform too, but you don’t even get the chance if people can’t get past the walls you’ve built around yourself. Don’t get me wrong…facts, figures, and studies are great but sometimes we have to quit hiding behind the words and let people in.
This doesn’t just apply to writing either. Whether it’s your blog, your podcast, YouTube, or TikTok…people seek out authentic interactions with real people.
So, think about that the next time you go to create something.
