Being Content Making Content

3 Myths About Content Creation

It was about 3 years ago when I first started hearing the phrase “content is king”. There wasn’t a shortage of people like Gary Vee saying “you need to be posting 10 times a day on TikTok!” etc. Everyone and their dog were shouting about content creation, and I was resisting with everything I had.

Right now, I’m finding myself in the early stages of being a digital, short-form content creator, and I want to dive into the specifics surrounding my resistance and eventual cave-in.

After some reflection, I’ve identified 3 myths that I think were holding me back.

• Everyone will hate me (fear of being cringe/people judging me)

• I don’t have enough time (making content takes too long)

• I don’t need to make content (avoiding reality)

Myth #1 - Everyone will hate me (fear of being cringe/judgment)

First off, some people will probably hate you. The myth is that it matters or should be a factor in your decision. The real trick is making sure YOU don’t hate you. I’ve found that the more I get in touch with myself and just commit to being me, the more I just don’t care about other people’s opinions. Think about it, if I make content that is an authentic reflection of who I am and then I hate it or cringe, I basically hate myself. So, a focus on self-love and acceptance is the remedy to this, in my opinion. This is a constant battle, but I’m winning and improving all the time.

Additionally, I didn’t think I could find a way to make content that was aligned with my personality and values and communicate my brand in a way I feel good about. Wrong! Solidifying and developing my brand and mission is what helped me move past this excuse. Just diving in and starting to post also led me to a process that feels less cringe as I iterate and create more. I also started keeping what I call a “strike tracker”. This is a list of the things that excite me or move me. Nothing is too big or small for the list. If I notice something that catches my attention I write it down. This helps with content ideas and also helps me get to know myself better.

I shared more about this in an IG reel here for example.

Myth #2: I don’t have enough time (making content takes too long)

I was under the impression that I just didn’t have the time and that content creation is inherently time-consuming. Well, yesterday I created 4 new ads/reels that I feel good about in less than 2 hours. Shot, edited, captions, done. I also realize I’ll get even faster at this as I learn what works and how to optimize my workflow and take advantage of the rapidly evolving tools. So the belief that it takes too long… Wrong again! As I continue my journey, I’ve also found that less produced content tends to connect more. I could just talk to the camera, selfie style, and reach more people than a fancy VFX post I spent hours on.

Myth #3: I don’t need to make content (avoiding reality)

Like I said previously, I knew deep down that making content is basically a requirement for what I want to achieve. If my goal is to inspire and uplift people through my art and life, then I have to share it… There really is no substitute for the opportunity presented by the current feed based social media delivery system. It’s undeniable that the majority of the world’s attention is focused on these feeds. Why wouldn’t I take advantage of that?

It’s funny how sometimes the thing you need to do is looking you dead in the face, and you just ignore it because you are uncomfortable. No more of that for me, if I can help it. Developing the ability to detect when I’m doing this is high on my list of self-improvement priorities. If I could speak to what dominoes fell that caused me to accept this reality, I would cite this specific experience when I changed my IG feed to see “only the accounts you follow” and quickly noticed that 96% or more of all the posts were coming from 1% of the accounts. A few people are making all of the content for the rest of us to doom scroll through. I decided I’m going to be part of that 1% of creators..

I’ll also mention that there are some people who don’t actually have to make content; they just put their art/work out there and blow up. However, I would consider these people lucky, and I just don’t make my plans and decisions based on the hope of getting lucky.

Bonus:

Lastly, I don’t think I had a useful frame of mind surrounding my life and career as a whole. While I don’t want to rush through life, I think there are times when deploying a frantic and urgent mindset can be a useful tool to increase productivity and fight against the laziness and lack of urgency, but finding a balance and control of this area and mode is important to me! Enjoy the process.

All in all, I think I’ve realized that I would benefit from more systematic belief interrogation. Maybe part of this blog will be listing out beliefs and things I take for granted and then really scrutinizing them. I need to scan the depths of my psyche to find those things I know I should or shouldn’t be doing and bring them to the surface.

I’d also like to encourage YOU to put yourself out there if you think you have something unique or interesting to bring to the world or simply want to contribute something positive or constructive to combat the endless stream of harmful or useless content that currently plagues most of our social media feeds.

-Danny