Living your life on the internet is weird.
Because you don’t have a storefront where people can come and interact with you, or you’re not a trainer at the gym always on display in front of potential customers, you have to attract the right reader, subscriber, follower, friend, connection, whoever, by sharing things
online.
And you don’t get to just share recipes and workouts (the easy stuff!), you share thoughts, feelings, personal stories and even insight into your own dysfunction (!!!). Which, I don’t see as sharing “flaws” per se, but sharing the REAL stuff—the struggles, the successes, the missteps and the tough convos—is required to both create connection and share solutions as a service.
And while it can be some of the most fulfilling work because
people can relate, maybe feel less alone and are empowered to share their own stories … it can be scary! Ha!
I was terrified.
At the time, no one was really talking about yo-yo
dieting or admitting their rebounds publicly.
It was still super shameful (even though, come to find out many MANY more people than you can imagine are sharing the same experience with zero outlet to let go of their shame and guilt) to admit anything less than perfection. Certainly no one on Instagram was showing their cellulite or those “30s before and afters.”
No, if you were a blogger or competitor or online business owner, you
just didn’t post unflattering photos, and you certainly never admitted to binge eating or struggling with feelings of inadequacy.
And so, the current shift into more transparency, vulnerability and open and honest dialogue on social media is something I am very much a fan of.
Because like Brené Brown says, "Shame can't survive being spoken," and that blog in particular allowed me to release a lot of shame, and to open up the doors so others
could share their story of struggle.
We might not ever have all the answers, but the camaraderie forged as a result of sharing something so raw--yet so common--is worth every second of the discomfort of sharing.
We're not alone. Your story is more universal than you think.
And connecting over shared struggles is not about being negative or pessimistic. It's a jumping off point to start getting
better.
Connection allows for us to stop beating ourselves up and start looking for solutions and sharing insights so that we can actually *implement* the things we know to do, rather than fixating on the shame, guilt, embarrassment and self-disgust these often-taboo topics can elicit.
I love this space. Thank you for being here. Aaaaand, we're not stopping now!
BECAUSE, I’d like to invite you to listen to my brand
new podcast,
‘The Best Life’ that I am co-hosting with my friend Danny Johnson. It’s been live for a couple weeks now, and the feedback so far as been amazing.
The #1 piece of feedback we’ve been getting is: REAL, authentic, raw, vulnerable, inspiring.
I’d love to hear what you
think!
You can read the 75+ reviews already posted, too. And if you feel inclined, it would be a huge favor to us if you’d SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss any
episodes (we’re releasing every Wednesday) and leave an honest review.
The podcast has acted as my new outlet for open and honest dialogue, and I’ve shared plenty of things on it already that I haven’t shared anywhere else! I hope you will come and interact over there ;)
More to come for sure.
Hope you have a great week, and remember, there are no new stories—I know for a fact you are not alone and the emotions you
might be feeling at any time are NOT unique to you. Hopefully that let’s you know that whatever it is you are going through, you can handle it. I gotchu.
Xo,
Jill
P.S. If this sounds like something you might like, here are some examples of what you can expect out of The Best Life podcast:
