Actress Olivia Munn had an epiphany after battling cancer:
“I’m much more vulnerable in a way that I think I’ve always needed to be.
I didn’t realize how much armor I’d been wearing my entire life and how heavy that has been.
Sometimes it’s protected me and sometimes it’s been the wrong kind of tool.
I’ve realized that I’m actually much stronger without the armor and I’m much braver being vulnerable.”
Obvious the battle she’s fought is way more serious than any content strategy.
But what she said resonated with me both personally and as relates to content creation.
One of the biggest things I’ve learned over 20+ years of creating content is the power of being vulnerable.
I’ve realized most of us are wearing armor in our content (to borrow Olivia’s phrase) and we underestimate how heavy that armor is to wear.
That feeling you need to come across as professional, or cool, or strong, or like you have all the answers isn’t helping you as much as you think it is.
It’s holding you back.
And weighing on you.
The more vulnerable I’ve become in my content, the stronger my content has become and the lighter I’ve felt.
I’m sharing this today in the hopes that before you publish your next piece of content you take a second to think of Olivia and ask yourself:
Am I wearing armor in this post?
What might happen if I took that armor off?
I bet it would make your content stronger.
PS – This post is an example of what I’m talking about.
When I first read Olivia’s quote a couple weeks ago, I thought about sharing it, but was hesitant to because I didn’t want to be that guy who compares everything to content strategy or minimize the seriousness of what she’s talking about.
Then I realized that’s my armor talking.
My armor trying to shield me from potential criticism or worry that people won’t find it helpful.
But I took my armor off and shared it now.
Feels good.
You should give it a try.
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