Not achieving enough

Twitter feeds me a constant highight reel of work and life achievements. New code library releases, new app releases, new product features, new blog posts, new videos, new interviews, and most frequently of all - hot new takes.

When you've spent the entire week solving problems that aren't world changing, Twitter can leave you feeling like you've achieved nothing at all. The sad part is, this can even happen when you know you've done lots of valuable work.

Not talented enough

The basic premise of Twitter is that you follow people you're interested in, and share content you think others might find interesting. This can create a healthy platform for learning, socialising, and sharing your work.

However, if like me, you use Twitter to follow the best and brightest in your industry, your perspective quickly becomes skewed towards feeling distinctly average about yourself. It's very easy for this to happen when your view of your industry is the content shared from the top 1% of talent on the planet.

Not social enough

Twitter makes me feel like a shy kid at a party. I'm constantly wanting to say things, but I don't in case something bad happens. What if I've misunderstood something? What if people don't find my joke funny? What if nobody cares about the thing I think is cool? Worst of all, what if I accidentally say something un-woke and have my career ruined over a misunderstanding?

Twitter rewards confidence, extroversion, clear communicators, and quick-wittedness. If you're none of these things, using Twitter can actually be a tiring, even emotionally draining experience. You feel bad about not Tweeting enough, feel bad about Tweeting and getting no engagement, or feel bad when someone takes something you've said the wrong way.

What can I do about this?

Despite everything I've said above. I actually enjoy using Twitter on the whole. It feels like the right format for a social network to me. I also believe that as a company owner, having some sort of social media presence is important.

When I really get introspective, I also realise the issues I've highlighted aren't actually problems with Twitter at all. What I'm experiencing are my own insecurities, Twitter is just surfacing them. In response, I've decided to remind myself of the following when using Twitter.

Comparison is the thief of joy

The only person I should be comparing myself to is my past self. Also, I need to remember that I've chosen to follow high achievers on Twitter because I want to learn and improve. I shouldn't feel bad that they're outperforming me.

Work doesn't need to be shared to be valuable

Some of the most valuable work I've done in my career is unbelieveably mundane. I should seek a sense of achievement from working on projects I care about, and not feel I have to make a show of things to be worthwhile.

Stop worrying so much about what people think

People will disagree with me, that's fine. People won't find what I have to share interesting, that's fine too. Nobody is dwelling on my Twitter activity, or lack thereof, I shouldn't either.

Nobody can define success for you

Success isn't money in the bank, code written, content shared, a follower count, travelling for conferences, or hours worked per week. Success is achieving what I set out to do, nothing more, nothing less.

If you enjoyed this blog post, you should follow me on Twitter, where I'll be sharing similar content in the future. I promise not to make you feel bad about yourself!