Show Your Work: Austin Kleon

The beauty of a blog under my own name, without any sort of theme or promise to be practical, is that I get to write about whatever I want. Now whilst content ideas and creation is important and having some sort of structured content calendar would be handy, there can be days where you don't feel connected to the piece you want to write.

You don't get that burning passion to write what piece as it just doesn't click.

It's why I love the book 'Show Your Work' by Austin Kleon.

If you haven't read it, it takes about 30 minutes or so and the whole philosophy behind the book is to put yourself out there and well, show your work.

If you are a part of some creative sector or have the desire to go on a journey to learn a new skill, by publicly documenting it, you inadvertently are able to start building an online portfolio of yourself whilst learning the new skill.

Just because you aren't an expert in the field, doesn't mean that you can't teach others. Beginners can teach other beginners, and sometimes they can teach it better than the experts.

It's because a beginner can understand a beginner's mind better, meaning that it can allow them to present teachings in a way that is much more understandable.

Online Portfolio

This is my 3rd attempt at starting an online blog. My previous website was actually pivotal in me getting my current job. I placed it on my CV and it was added to my portfolio as such.

Now from a job perspective, if I'm able to talk about my work more during the week and add it to this post, then it is more often than not I'd be talking about a subject that someone, somewhere in the world would be going through.

Some people put this out on LinkedIn, some people put this out on their own website (like me). My last post was actually me discussing something that happened at work, and whilst it wasn't the most technically minded blog, I discussed points that the experts might not actually think about.

It's scary when your website disappears. It's emotional, it's stressful, all of your work disappears. But because I'd been through that experience, I can imagine that someone somewhere probably has as well.

Putting Yourself Out There

Just by sharing my thoughts about the experience and what I did to overcome this can actually be extremely beneficial to someone in the world.

And by consistently posting on this blog, and sharing my documented experiences,, it can allow people to find my content that may resonate them.

We all go through things in life that we think could only happen to us. Statistically speaking, that's highly unlikely.

So if something notable has happened to you, write it down, put yourself out there. Again, you don't have to make a whole website to prove your point, you could easily do this on any social media platform. If it's about work, put it on LinkedIn, if it's something short and funny, best bet is probably Twitter, if it is something a bit more personal, maybe Facebook???

The point is that there are loads of options out there for you to show your work. By starting to reveal your work, you have a greater chance of building a community of like-minded people who may not always come to you for the answers, but perhaps go to each other for help.

By sharing your voice, you're able to share others. And in today's modern world, if you're able to monetise a community in some way or another, well then, you may have found yourself a side hustle just from documenting your experiences.

I highly implore you to read Austin Kleon's 'Show Your Work'. It could be the start of something new for you.