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b'I have a confession to make.\\n\\n\\n\\nThis month, I committed to speaking up on Instagram Stories every day. I pledged to share something\\u2013not necessarily profound, not necessarily useful or valuable\\u2013just something.\\n\\n\\n\\nI didn\\u2019t follow through.\\n\\n\\n\\nIn fact, as of the time of this recording, I\\u2019ve been hiding out for more than a week\\u2013not really publicly posting anything anywhere. What had been a consistent effort to creatively share my ideas, reflections, and stories has ground to a halt.\\n\\n\\n\\nToday, we\\u2019re talking about all the things that keep us from speaking up\\u2013and how we can work through them.\\n\\n\\n\\nThis is far from the first time I\\u2019ve gone dark on social media. It\\u2019s the first thing to go when I start to feel overwhelmed and depressed. I\\u2019ve been fighting back a period of depression for over a year now and it\\u2019s just gotten to be too much.\\n\\n\\n\\nThere is something different about going dark this time, though.\\n\\n\\n\\nSo far, it\\u2019s only impacted social media. And, frankly, I don\\u2019t need to constantly post to social media to run my companies.\\n\\n\\n\\nWhat\\u2019s really different about how I\\u2019ve kept speaking up outside of social media is that systems and routines that I\\u2019ve put in place to help me maintain a consistent practice of using my voice and sharing my ideas.\\n\\n\\n\\nThe What Works Weekly newsletter has still be going out every week.\\n\\n\\n\\nThis podcast, of course, has still been produced every week.\\n\\n\\n\\nI\\u2019m still showing up to share and lead The What Works Network.\\n\\n\\n\\nMy businesses can surviving without social media.\\n\\n\\n\\nThey can\\u2019t survive without me speaking up.\\n\\n\\n\\nTwelve years into this small business leadership thing and I KNOW that my mental health impacts my ability to share. But it doesn\\u2019t have to stop me in my tracks.\\n\\n\\n\\nI can focus on systems that inspire me to share my thoughts and give me direction when I need it. I can commit to a sustainable pace for using my voice and pull back on any extra effort when it gets to be too much\\u2013without feeling bad about myself or my capacity.\\n\\n\\n\\nSpeaking up for yourself and your business is no joke.\\n\\n\\n\\nPutting your ideas, stories, or information out there can be daunting. Any number of things might be going through your mind:\\n\\n\\n\\nIs this really helpful? Hasn\\u2019t this already been said a million times before? What if someone yells at me? Who am I to say this? What if they think I\\u2019m weird? Is anyone paying attention at all? What if it goes viral and I get inundated with replies?\\n\\n\\n\\nAnd it\\u2019s not just the head stuff that stops us!\\n\\n\\n\\nSometimes the challenge is finding our people and speaking directly to them. Sometimes the obstacle is finding a message that makes a connection. Sometimes it\\u2019s the logistics or the technology that throw you for a loop.\\n\\n\\n\\nSo many things can stand in the way of us speaking up for ourselves and our small businesses.\\n\\n\\n\\nToday, I\\u2019ve got 5 stories for you. Each story is from a small business owner who identified a hurdle they had to speaking up and found what worked for them to overcome it.\\n\\n\\n\\nYou\\u2019ll hear from'