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4 min read Perspective

go. out. there. 🚀

go. out. there. 🚀
"Olé to you nonetheless, just for having the sheer human love & stubbornness to keep on showing up."
– Elizabeth Gilbert

đŸ˜¶ Putting myself out there

Around early 2010s, I was watching TV. I forgot what I was watching, but I will never forget the TV station’s poetic commercial that caught my attention. It attempted to be motivational and... it did just that to the younger me.

I picked up a notebook and started writing words that stood out to me:
"Go out there, you’ll be just fine."

It was one of those moments where I had to vow to myself that my character development phase was over, and it was time for character progression. A recurring cliché during my teenage years.

Cheesy as it may sound, this kick-started my series of “you might be scared, but do it scared” moments.

  • It is how I came to appreciate the privilege of leading, although I grew up as a quiet kid.
  • It is how I got used to being uncomfortable and taking on opportunities beyond my comfort zone.
  • It is how I got to meet people that I constantly learn from.

Although I was putting myself into opportunities, I don’t share nor talk about it often. If I do, it's only in small group conversations.

📘 Show Your Work

In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, he wrote this line as part of a dialogue:
“The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it. When I leave town now I never tell my people where I am going. If I did, I would lose all my pleasure. It is a silly habit, I dare say...”

I don’t always agree with Oscar Wilde’s hedonistic perspective, although I like his works. Yet somehow, I shared the same sentiment with the line above. I keep things for myself, as there is some sort of romance that comes with it. This practice extended even to my learnings & insights, I almost only share them with a few people.

Diagram from Austin Kleon's Show Your Work

I am, borderline, a hoarder.

There are other various reasons that can keep me from sharing:

  • I don't think I'm an expert on things I’m interested in.
  • I have nothing “interesting” to talk about.
  • I am always a work in progress. I’ll have something more valuable to share years from now.

Austin Kleon's Show Your Work countered the thoughts I had:

  • You don’t have to be a genius. You can find your voice by using it.
  • Open up your cabinet of curiosities. There’s not a big difference between collecting & creating.
  • Think process, not product. Become a documentarian of what you do.
Photo by Rishikesh Sreehari on Unsplash

Before I read Show Your Work last month, what started the reshaping of my perspective is Seth Godin’s This Is Marketing. He wrote:

“If you hesitate to market your offering properly, it’s not that you’re being shy. It’s not that you’re being circumspect. It’s that you’re stealing, because there’s someone who needs to learn from you, engage with you, or buy from you.”

My new perspective got cemented when I read a quotation in Show Your Work:

"The impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes."
– Annie Dillard

So, I created this space to share things I have learned, and share things I will learn. In this part of the interweb, I will share perspectives I am taking to keep my life & work meaningful + purposeful.

Some links I saved recently:

Some works I found fascinating:

Lastly, Josh Radnor’s museletters started my habit of reading newsletters. I can’t get enough of it. I also found Joel Gascoigne’s articles personally helpful. Both made me decide to document my journey.

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