I don't know how to talk about myself and my work confidently...

Some big mistakes I made in my 6 years of freelancing career are that I never made a good portfolio and never shared my work confidently.

And, when I read this book, “Show your work” by Austin Kleon. I was so guilt-laden.

I don’t know about you, but I just love how much books really help us through. And, you will often find me writing more about books I read and how they have influenced me.

If only I had documented all my 6 years of trial and error, if only I had built up a good portfolio website, if only I had consistently shown up and talked about my process, progress, and final output.

I would have been in a far better place today.

But what’s the point? You can’t change the past, but you can learn from it and take action in the present to change your future.

Perhaps, as they say,” Better late than never.”

When I read this book, I was pumped to show all of my work to the world.

No matter how amateur it will make me look.

As an artist and a writer, I need to be more open to showing my work out on social media and keep a strategy and consistency intact.

I have been consistently thinking, overanalyzing, and planning all the things to show my work in a presentable manner soon.

Perhaps, that soon always gets pushed ahead due to reasons like

• It’s not yet ready to show,

• it’s not perfect,

• the time isn’t right,

• I need to learn one more skill, maybe then… the reasons never end.

And, so I am re-reading this book again to get that push to just stop thinking and start taking action.

This book is like a best friend to people like me who often shy away or feel underconfident about self-promotion.

But the truth is, if we don’t, won’t, and can’t talk about our work and our art, who else will?

Who else can tell your story and your journey better than you?

Your boss, your dream job, and your dream client are unaware of your work and potential if you don’t put yourself out there.

Treat social media platforms more like your resume.

Stop posting pictures of your lunch or latte’s but start posting pictures of your work. This is what Austin talks about in this book.

If you are trying to build your dream life, both personally and professionally, use social media to the best of its use. Stop just scrolling mindlessly.

If you still haven’t realized why you need to find the purpose of your life and how life feels aimless because you have nothing to look forward to— read this Hussian Ibarra’s beautiful newsletter (click here).

I loved reading this, and when I came across I had made up my mind to share it in my newsletter too. And, honestly, there was no better time to read this…It came out loud to me at the perfect timing.

The book “Show your Work!” talks more about building in public, sharing, but also not over-sharing your work, sharing your process and progress, talking about your stories, and why you are building something…

Solve your own problems and then teach what you know— that way, you are actually helping or giving value to the people who have the same interests as you, perhaps, are a few steps behind you.

When you are faced with heavy criticism, learn to take the punch, learn not to take it to heart, infact, use it as a way to improve your work.

I am not saying all criticism should be taken into consideration. Scan through what suits you and ignore the rest.

The last part in this book is— don’t quit your show. When you reach a point and feel you have nothing to achieve or accomplish more, use your previous work as a way to find something new.

There is always room for curiosity, new projects, and new interests.

Life is a series of evolving and exploring. Stop doing the same thing that everyone is doing around you.

Start looking for something new, something that excites you, and then learn, explore, fail, retry, and evolve through it…

Keep the growing, keep evolving, and keep showing up…

This is it for today.

By next Wednesday, I hope I have something better to share cause I am constantly working on it. I just hope I finish it off by the next time we meet.

This is it for today, will be back with another power-packed newsletter next Wednesday.

Stay Tuned.

Signing off

Your Creative Nerd,

Nazish.

If you still haven't read my ebook “How I Became a Better Copywriter and Got Faster Results by Beating Procrastination,” then make sure to read it. You can download it from here.

If you enjoy my writing, then visit my recent post on Medium here.

My portfolio is here