What is the Cost of Not Sharing your Work Publicly?

You’re sitting on brilliant ideas, unfinished projects, or vulnerable stories - but they never see the light of day. Sound familiar?

In this episode of The Underdog Protagonist, I dive deep into the fear, perfectionism, and self-doubt that keep us from sharing our work with the world. More importantly, I explore what it costs us when we stay silent, and what changes when we finally speak up.

Inside this episode, we'll explore:

• The real reasons we hold back
• What we lose by not sharing
• My own story of missed momentum
• How to reframe “sharing” as an act of service
• Tactical ways to share imperfectly and often

This one’s personal, honest, and a reminder that your work was never meant to be hidden.

About Pk:
Pratyush has been a designer for more than 6 years. He started creating content to share his knowledge and establish a connection between design and business. He believes that knowledge grows by sharing and he wants to do just that. He is in a journey to help fellow freelancers and content creators make a profitable career.

Connect with Pk: LinkedIn | X | YouTube

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Transcript

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the underdog protagonist. I'm Pratyush and today we're going to talk about something that hits close to home for me. Actually, it's something I have resolved with a lot over the years And that is, what's the cost of not sharing your work? Not just creatively, but mentally, emotionally, professionally.

What happens when you keep everything you've built, created, written, felt locked away inside. This episode isn't a productivity rant. It's not about building a professional brand or getting likes or going viral. I'll be doing something else if I wanted to go viral. It's about the quiet tension that builds up when you stay silent.

And how freeing and powerful it can be when you stop hiding what you have made. So, if you have ever told yourself, I'll share it when it's ready. I'm not sure if this is good enough or who's even going to care about this. This episode is for you. So without any further ado, let's get started.

We live in a time where quote unquote put yourself out there is said like it's easy. But if you've ever actually tried to do it, you know it's not. Let's unpack some of the real reasons why we hold back. Number one is the Fear of Judgement. The idea that someone might see your work and say, Ugh!

What is this? Who do they think they are? And the worst one, silence. No response at all. We attach our worth to how our work is received.

And that attachment, it paralyzes us. Reason number two is Perfectionism disguised as standards. We say that, I'm just trying to make it better before I share. But, how much better is better enough? You keep on striving to chase for the better version, but in reality, you're trying to procrastinate.

In the pursuit to chase perfectionism, you're killing your creativity. Perfectionism masks itself as care, but it's actually just fear in disguise. There's this famous quote by Anne Lamott and she says, Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor. Think how deep that is. Reason number three.

The I'm not ready yet lie. You may never feel ready. That's a trap. You think there will be some magical day where your courage lines up with your timing, But, that's not how this works. Confidence comes from doing, not from thinking about doing.

Let's say, for example, after seeing a musician, you might say that, give me two months, and I'll tackle it down. But, when you try to do that in real time, you might realize that the confidence you are getting thinking about the stuff is very different than actually doing it. Reason number four. Trying self worth to outcome. If people don't like it, does that mean that you aren't good enough?

Of course not. But, it feels like that. Right? So, we don't post. We don't speak.

We don't show up. And, what's wild is, we think by not sharing, we're protecting ourselves. Let's talk about what actually happens when you don't share your work. Number one, you miss the ripple effect. Your story, your idea, your unfinished draft could have been exactly what someone else needed.

But because you were too scared, they never saw it. We think that we are the only ones who feel insecure, the only ones doubting ourselves. But someone out there is praying for the thing you're sitting on right now. I've heard this quote somewhere, I can't remember from where, and it goes like, The moment you stop sharing, the world stops growing from what you could have given. And that hits me hard every time I think about it.

Number two. You lose feedback loops. No feedback is equals to no growth. Whether you're a designer, writer, developer, or just a thinker, if you keep building in isolation, you stay stuck in your own echo chamber. Even criticism sharpens you.

Number three. You lose momentum. Think about the last time you did not publish something. Didn't that make it harder to post the next thing? And then, even harder after that.

To be real with you, I have felt that. In every way possible, in every stream, in every media, wherever I try to put content, if I have a gap that is longer than usual and I try to build the next thing or post the next thing, I'm always hit with this is difficult. This is taking me long. What if people don't like? And thinking about that stuff, I lose momentum.

Either by thinking and just because I'm taking longer due to the fact that I've lost the habit of creating daily, hiding becomes a new habit. Number four. You stay in shame. Shame grows in the dark. Every time you think I should have posted that and you don't, you reinforce the belief that your work isn't worth sharing.

Silence becomes a cycle of self doubt. And finally, number five, you delay your breakthrough. The collaborations you want, the job offers, the clients, the opportunities, they come after you start showing up, not before. Let me tell you a story, a personal story. There was this time I wrote something, a blog post.

A blog post for LinkedIn. It was very personal, raw, and I was very proud of it at the moment. But I never published it. Why? Because I thought, who's going to care?

I kept on editing, kept tweaking, until it just sat there in my draft for months, and I never looked back at it. On the flip side, I've shared things that were far from perfect. Like, early podcast episodes where my voice felt shaky, where the editing wasn't clean, where I did not even know if anyone would listen. And yet, those episodes some of them got the most heartfelt messages, DMs from people saying that I felt this and that changed everything for me. It taught me that the impact does not come from polish.

It comes from presence, from Honesty and from Showing Up. This is the biggest mindset shift I want to offer you today. Don't share to impress. Share to serve. When you stop asking, will they like this?

And start asking, who could this help? Your whole energy changes. You stop performing and you start connecting. Let me give you a simple framework I use sometimes and it's called the 10% rule. If you're just 10% ahead of someone, you have something valuable to teach or share.

You don't need to be an expert. You just need to be honest. You don't need permission to help people. And, if you're overthinking a post, a podcast, a product, ask yourself, am I holding this back because of ego or because of care? Because one of those is keeping people from receiving what you have built.

Let me give you a challenge that you can take up this week. Pick one idea a week that you want to share as is. No perfect caption. No elaborate carousel. Just the idea raw.

Share it and see how it performs, how it connects, and how people react to it. Soon you'll find out that it's not really the quality that matters, but the honesty and the mindset behind it. Let people into your progress. Share your work, not just results. Let people into your progress.

Share your mood boards, your drafts, your almost done designs. People love seeing how you create. It inspires them to create themselves and in some way, it alienates the pain and that overthinking that what if I try to do the same thing and do not get the perfect results. Because the way you are sharing your process gives them confidence that the path they are in right now is somewhat making sense. If you're a writer, tweet your unfinished thoughts.

If you're a designer, post snippets of explorations. If you're a speaker, record voice notes and post as reels. Don't wait for the big launch. Build in public. This is a concept that has been going for far too long and it still it still has that charm to it.

People love it. Stop treating every post like it's your magnum opus. Your entire body of work isn't hanging on this one share. Post it, walk away, move on. Store your content ideas in a swipe file, and when you're feeling confident, schedule a few.

And when you're not, just post something from the bank. This creates consistency without pressure. Okay. We have covered one challenge for the week. But if you are feeling brave enough, here's one more challenge for you to try this week.

Share one thing you have been holding back. It could be a project, a thought, a rough draft, a lesson you have learnt. Big or small, just share it. You can turn sharing into a ripple effect. You can connect with thousands, if not hundreds.

Here's the final takeaway. And look, I know it's hard. Sharing takes courage, but so does hiding. And one of those choices leads to connection, growth, and movement. The other keeps you in limbo.

So, let me end this episode by saying this. You don't need more time. You don't need more polish. You need more bravery in small doses. That's all it takes.

Thank you so much for spending your time with me today. If this episode resonated with you, share it along with someone who needs to hear it too. Leave a review, subscribe, and keep building loudly or quietly, but keep building. You are listening to the underdog protagonist, and I'll catch you in the next one. Until then, take care.