how to create content without breaking your self-confidence?
on algorithms, speeds, failures, and meaningful content.
the internet has made us obsessed with becoming extraordinary. sometimes i wonder if our generation even knows what a normal life looks like anymore. everyone wants to create content and become famous, get brand deals, earn enough to quit jobs and retire early. but the market has become crowded and it has only begun. i don’t think it’s wrong for wanting more from life. if anything, it’s quite inspiring how deeply people still want to create, express, build, and become. the problem is that somewhere along the way, we started confusing visibility with worth.
so, let’s talk about the problem with content creation, the problem with people who want to create, how internet constantly pushes us to question our lives, and what is the possible solution for all this?
but before that, if you haven’t subscribed to hack your twenties, click the button below. it’s free!
so, a few days ago i was checking the subscriber count for hack your twenties, its 312. and i just sat there staring at the number for a while because i genuinely could not figure out what i was supposed to feel about it.
three hundred people is a lot of people. if all of them entered a room together, it would feel overwhelming. i would probably panic before speaking in front of that many people. but online it feels tiny! because the internet has completely changed the emotional meaning of numbers. now everything feels relative to the biggest thing you saw on your screen that day.
and the internet keeps showing you extremes till your brain stops recognizing them as extremes. that’s probably why so many people today secretly feel like their current life is not enough even when nothing is actually wrong with it. and that makes me wonder…
is our generation less afraid of failure and more afraid of becoming invisible?
because, that fear sits underneath so much of modern life.
the best and most visible example of it is the ‘creator economy.’ yeah, those two words have become more relevant than the actual needles moving the economy. people who never cared about content suddenly feel pressure to “build something online.” people who never wanted attention now feel like they are making a mistake by staying private.
and once that idea enters your brain, it becomes very difficult to sit peacefully with an ordinary life. that’s why so many people are trying to become creators now even when they don’t actually know what they want to create. they just know they cannot afford to stay behind while everybody else seems to be building leverage online.
and they are first confused about what should they create content about? they are not expert in anything, they don’t know how to speak in front of the camera and even if they knew they don’t know what to speak about? what niche should they pick? and all this creates so much anxiety in them that one day they just decide to post just anything and that content does not resonate with audience. they keep creating random stuff not to actually create their personal brand but to soothe their anxiety that they have at least started creating content.
and that's even dangerous because when they see no visible results on their attempt to become extraordinary the motivation dies and with it their self worth also comes into question.
there are moments where i catch myself thinking, ‘maybe i should stop writing essays and just start making ‘better content.’
better meaning → shorter, faster, ‘content that works.’
because after a point the internet starts making sincerity feel inefficient. i started hack your twenties almost two and a half years ago. week after week i kept writing. there are essays where i have spent hours rewriting the same paragraph because it wasn’t landing well. there are pieces i have deleted entirely and so many are just sitting in my drafts because halfway through i realized i was writing for attention instead of honesty.
and after all this time, i am still at around 300 subscribers. some days that number feels beautiful to me. and some days it completely destroys my confidence. both are true. that’s the strange part about trying to build something online today. your relationship with your own work becomes unstable.
because while you are trying to build something slowly, the internet keeps rewarding speed.
you open your phone and see people growing at terrifying speed. newsletters blowing up within months. ai-generated content farms getting millions of views. generic advice reaching thousands while deeply personal writing disappears into silence. and if you expose your brain to that long enough, your current life starts feeling emotionally insufficient.
i think earlier effort itself carried dignity. now effort feels incomplete without proof. and that proof is the numbers on your creator’s dashboard. then brain then starts translating low visibility into low value. people are no longer just trying to improve their lives. they are trying to receive visible confirmation that their life is improving.
and when the growth doesn’t come, the self-doubt becomes brutal. but the worst part is that nobody can even give you a clear answer anymore. because success online is such a strange mixture of skill, timing, luck, consistency, packaging, psychology, algorithmic behavior and momentum.
sometimes good work wins. sometimes average work reaches millions because it arrived in the right format at the right time on the right platform. and once you realize this, motivation becomes harder to sustain because the path stops feeling stable. you are no longer just fighting difficulty. you are fighting unpredictability.
that’s why so many people today feel restless all the time.
growing up, a normal life actually looked normal. your parents wanted stability, a decent income, peaceful house, good education for the kids, maybe one international trip after years of saving, maybe buying a home after decades of work. that was considered success.
today, the definition has completely changed. you can especially feel this in your twenties. even hobbies don’t feel innocent anymore. a person starts photography and within six months they’re thinking, “can i monetize this?”
i’ll be having a peaceful day and suddenly a thought enters my mind, “this isn’t productive enough.” and it sounds ridiculous when you say it out loud.
because, since when did rest start needing justification? since when did every passion need to become useful? since when did we become so uncomfortable with simply existing as regular human beings?
so how to get out of this mess and create content that you would enjoy creating?
i think one of the biggest mistakes people make while starting content creation is treating content like a career decision before treating it like self-expression.
the internet has convinced people that content creation starts with strategy.
no! meaningful content starts with asking yourself, ‘what is it that i enjoy doing, talking about, sharing?’ because it is very important to enjoy the process and not keep thinking about the destination.
and to do that there are just few ways in my opinion.
first, you need to intentionally slow down. if you want to create content then give your unique perspective. even if there are thousands of other creators in the same niche, your unique pov will make you stand out.
and you need to stay away from the noise. i won’t say reduce consuming - rather change what you are consuming. choose long form over reels. long form video essays, personal essays, books, etc. because it immerses your brain into one thing for a longer time. it slows you down.
go deeper into the subjects that interests you. because when you decide to create content you won’t have to look for topics. you would be an expert in a specific area. even if don’t find a niche, having deeper insights about things makes people want to hear you.
avoid obsessing over trends and jumping on them. focus on creating value. because, trends come and go but value always stays. create value for people and you will find a quality audience that will respect your work and even look forward to it.
if you have more thoughts about the above do share in the comments.
have a great week!
oh and before leaving, you can check out hackyourtwenties instagram too!