I’ll be honest, I’ve been struggling lately.
And if you’re looking for work right now, there’s a good chance you know the feeling.
You’re trying to stay optimistic. You’re refreshing job boards, rewriting your resume, sending applications into the void, and still trying to act like you’re fine when someone asks how the search is going.
Then you open LinkedIn and suddenly, it feels like everyone else is winning.
This is not some pity party. It’s just a reflection of how I’ve let LinkedIn determine too much of my self-worth, and how easy it is for that to happen when you’re already questioning yourself.
Every day I get on there and see the same faces posting about going to Cannes, speaking at SXSW, being “so thrilled to announce” their new role at whatever company, or sharing some fake podcast they filmed to seem more important than they actually are.
And I know how that sounds. Judgy? Sure. Bitter? Maybe.
But what it all comes down to is comparison.
Why do I even give a damn about what so-and-so is doing? Why am I letting these superficial things be the measurement of my own value?
That’s the part worth sitting with, because it’s rarely about the post itself. It’s about what the post starts saying back to you.
Someone else gets invited to speak, and you start questioning your own expertise. Someone else announces a new role, and you feel behind. Someone else gets featured, followed, praised, or platformed, and your brain quietly turns their visibility into evidence that you’re not doing enough.
No, I haven’t spoken on a huge stage. I’ve never been to a marketing conference, seriously. I don’t get featured by brands in their marketing or have any sort of partnerships. I don’t have a huge Fortune 500 company or some snazzy tech brand on my resume. I’ve never paid to be a Forbes 30 Under 30.
But it’s taken a lot of inner work to realize that NONE OF THAT determines my value.
The work I’ve done, the years of experience, the ambition, creativity, WHO I AM, is enough.
The same is true for you. The work you’ve done still matters, even if nobody is clapping for it online. The experience you’ve built still counts, even if it doesn’t fit neatly into a shiny announcement post. Your ambition, creativity, resilience, standards, and ability to keep going when things feel uncertain all matter.
I had a very real breakdown last night. I’ve been struggling to find work, and during this breakdown I realized how much effort I’ve put into performing for a crowd of people that are essentially just a metric.
That sentence hit me hard because I know how much of myself I’ve handed over to the metric. The likes, the impressions, the comments, the profile views, the vague sense that people are watching and judging whether I’m still relevant, hireable, impressive, or worth remembering.
I’m sharing this because I know I’m not the only one who’s felt or currently feels this way.
You might be like me, looking for a job, seeing all the hoopla being posted and thinking to yourself, “you haven’t done that,” “you’re not a real expert,” or “you should be further along by now.”
But let me tell you something, and I’m saying this because I need to hear it too: none of it matters.
A stage doesn’t make you an expert. Being on a podcast doesn’t make you smart. A viral post doesn’t make you credible. A blue badge doesn’t make you a thought leader. A follower count doesn’t tell anyone a damn thing about your ability to do the work.
It just means you’re visible.
Visibility is not value. Visibility is not credibility. And visibility certainly doesn’t mean you do great work.
It just means you’re loud.
And when you’re in a season where you feel quiet, overlooked, rejected, or unseen, loud people can start to look like proof that you’re losing.
They’re not.
They’re just loud.
I realize now that I am more than the stages I could speak on. I am more than the job title or company on my resume.
And you are too.
You are more than the title you have, the title you lost, or the title you’re trying to get. You are more than the logo on your resume. You are more than the awkward little gap you’re trying to explain. You are more than the number of people who liked your post, replied to your email, or viewed your profile.
I have a beautiful wife, the CUTEST 10-month-old son (WAY cuter than yours, yes, I am biased.) I am healthy, I have a roof over my head, and none of the worldly accolades, followers, impressions, awards, podcasts, or social media managers I know matter more than that.
All I want is to do great work. I want to be part of an exceptional team. I want to use the skills I’ve worked hard to build over the last 14 years to make a real impact.
That’s what most of us want, really. Not fake importance. Not performative influence. Not another empty metric to chase. Just good work, with good people, in a place where your skills are useful and your contribution actually matters.
But I’m done letting social networks convince me that I’m behind, invisible, or less valuable because my life doesn’t look like someone else’s highlight reel.
I hope you can be done with that too, or at least begin to be.
You are more than your job title.
You are more than your resume.
You are more than your LinkedIn profile.
And repeat after me:
I AM ENOUGH.
P.S. If this resonated with you, I’d genuinely love to hear from you. Are you feeling this too?