act as if

crickets.

do you know the feeling?

you share something… and nothing.

no readers. no viewers. no comments. no followers. no engagement. no traction. no impact.

crickets.

it can be such a discouraging feeling, can’t it?

you might start getting a case of the why bothers. you might start questioning your words, your work. you might even feel like giving up.

i get it. i’ve been there too.

but remember this… this quote from anne lammont that inspired this whole revolution…

“lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.”

that’s the whole point.

you have to be the lighthouse.

you have to act as if.

as if there are 1000 boats, or 100 boats, or even just one boat out there, lost at sea, needing your light.

close your eyes. picture that one person out there… that one reader. that one listener. that one viewer. that one customer. that one future friend. that one like-minded soul.

what do they need to hear today?

you are not alone.

it’s going to be ok.

you’ve got this.

speak to them. talk directly to that one person. act as if they are already out there... waiting, searching, listening… show up for them.

and show up again. and again.

this little trick works when you are trying to overcome your own fear to try something new: to do your first facebook live, or to record your first podcast or youtube video, to start a blog or write a book, to send a letter to your tribe or post something vulnerable on social media.

it can be hard to overcome our own resistance, that voice in our head saying “who am i to do this? what if people don’t like it? what if i get crickets?”

we need a reason to show up and shine… let that one boat out at sea be your reason. focus on them. talk to them. shine out your light to them. act as if they are already there waiting for you.

this helps too if you are writing an article for someone else’s blog or website, speaking to someone in a podcast or interview, attempting to be published in a magazine or a collaborative book, even speaking up in a group forum. it can be hard to know what to say… what will appeal to someone else’s audience. instead, just picture your one boat out there at sea. talk to them. write for them.

the keeper of the beacon is the rockstar. to build up your resilience and overcome your resistance you need to tap into your inner rockstar… rock star energy is about standing, authentically, on your own kind of stage, singing out the song of your soul.

what would that mean to you? it doesn’t have to mean actually standing on a stage! it could be more like standing out on a street corner like an indie rocker playing to the beat of your own drum. or maybe it’s hanging up your work in a gallery, or adding it to the shelves of a library, or standing at the front of a classroom, or showing off your stuff in the pages of a magazine.

start acting as if right now. let your blog, your video, your email, your facebook, your instagram be that stage… and share yourself as though your audience, your boats, are out there already waiting for you.

here’s the thing we forget sometimes.

everybody starts at zero.

every single person you admire for shining their light in the world started at zero.

but it’s the people who keep showing up, keep rising up, keep trying, keep tweaking… keep shining… that grow from zero.

it requires tenacity, perseverance, resilience…  you need to build those foundation blocks up in yourself, ignore the crickets, focus on your one boat out at sea… and act as if you are already the lighthouse.