Why You Should NOT Move in Silence
Why? Are you a thief?
After Issa Rae's wedding pictures appeared on her Instagram on July 26th following a non-publicized relationship, Twitter people came out in droves to preach the old cliché gospel of ‘move in silence’, blah, blah, blah.
While there are certainly some aspects of your life that are better off private, one thing you should never ever ‘move in silence’ about is your career. Except you’re a trust fund baby, or your father owns a company or business which you’re expected to transition into managing. Or maybe you’re into a similar line of business as Hushpuppi, Bernie Madoff, or Glory Osei, then yes, maybe move in silence.
But, if none of those profiles describe you, and you’re just a young person trying to build a career for yourself, then moving in silence should have no place in your career.
Gone are the days when it was just enough for you to be qualified or hardworking and luck will just find you. You have to create your own luck by putting yourself out there, and the most accessible way to do that is via social media.
Granted, social media has its ills, but one thing it does very well is give you access to a global platform. What you do with that platform is up to you.
Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, whatever. Find one that’s popular amongst people in the same field as you, and share your work there — even if you’re not selling anything.
Catch your usual social media cruise, but dedicate some days to talking about or creating content around what you do. Sharing your work on social media is the fastest way to expose yourself to opportunities that you otherwise would never have gotten.
Opportunity no longer comes to the most qualified – it goes to the most visibly qualified.
Everyday, people are signing deals, getting jobs, and whatnot on social media — even TikTok. Don’t be left out.
Painter? Share pictures of your paintings frequently, share behind the scenes videos, what it took to paint a piece, create threads on your painting techniques, the best materials to use e.t.c
Software developer? Share what tools or projects you’re currently working on, how you solved a particular bug, what you’re currently learning, e.t.c
Lawyer, content creator, product designer? Share your work. You get the point?
And the truth is, you don’t even have to be an expert in your field before you start to share. You can very well be a beginner, just sharing about new things you’ve been learning, struggles you’ve encountered while trying to grow.
Yes, there’ll be people who may troll you and say you’re doing too much, but fuck them! There’ll also be people who will resonate with your content. You have to be your biggest fan, your own publicist, and heck, your own town crier.
It’s great to be smart, hardworking, and world class in the work that you do, but there’s a high probability that if someone doesn’t discover you, …. you’ll keep hacking away in a rabbit hole while folks with half your intelligence, but rich in people currency will have a mighty seat at the long table of opportunities, wealth and opulence.
~ Prosper Otemuyiwa
I recently signed a contract for the biggest freelance job I’ve ever done in my life off Twitter (something around 3x of my current monthly salary).
Someone just arrived in my Twitter DM with “Hey, I’ve been following you for a while, I see you tweet about technical content strategy for startups. My startup is looking for so and so, would you be able to so and so ….”. And just like that, a contract was signed.
If I wasn’t sharing and being present on Twitter, I would never have gotten this opportunity because the dude stays on another continent.
And this isn’t a get rich quick scheme or a ‘start doing it and immediately opportunities will find you’ kinda thing. As with everything, it takes time, but consistency is what makes all the difference.
I could share a lot of stories about people who through sharing their work on social media have experienced huge growth and success in their careers in such a short time. But I won’t. It’s 5 am on a Saturday morning, I’m hungry and sleep-deprived abeg.
Just know this: when it comes to your career, build in public, grow in public, share your journey, people are watching, and it will definitely pay off someday.
Till I write again,
Love, light, and kisses
Unrelated news: OMG! We’re at 90 subscribers now! Can’t believe that real people are subscribed to this. I love you all. Going to do a giveaway once we reach 100 subscribers. Yeeesh! can’t wait :)