I went back and forth when writing this post. The thing is, we are ALL about vulnerability when it comes to our emotional health these days. It's beautiful and necessary for our ability to cope in the world. However, admitting professional vulnerability, primarily when you work for yourself, and your career is mainly in the hands of other people's perception of you, feels foolish. You'd be strongly advised against it. It's the last corner of life we have yet to become brutally honest about. One look at LinkedIn will show you the skill with which people can spin an impressive amount of professional trickery. I do it, too. It's all about the 'optics'.
'If you have to cry, go outside' was a book written by Kelly Cutrone (a famously thundering bitch of a boss from The Hills) that I read many moons ago. Whether or not you read it, its sentiment is one by which my generation remains hugely affected. It taught me that you must only put your best foot forward. Professionally speaking, you must push any doubt or insecurity under the rug. And it's probably not the best idea to shout from the rooftops that you've no idea what you're doing. Not if you want to be taken seriously for whatever you do. Not unless you want to cut yourself off from future opportunities. That book predates social media and how it has become inextricably linked with many people's working lives and - more pertinently and problematically - their worth. I could be twiddling my thumbs as tumbleweeds roll by, getting career doors slammed in my face left, right and centre, BUT if my content reflects the suitable optics, I'll keep myself open to possibilities and give off the right impression.