3-Year Anniversary of Writing on LinkedIn

Today is my birthday—the big 5-5. 🎉
And yesterday was my 3-year anniversary of writing on LinkedIn™. Please indulge me some reflections:

🔹 On turning 55:

—“Yikes!”

(We are definitely more than half way through now.🙀😱)

—But also, “Ahhh!”

(At least compared to 25, a birthday on which I cried, as I was 100% single and thought I’d grow old, a spinster, and die.)

 —It really does get better every year.
(Thank you, Matt. ♥️)

🔹 On writing publicly:

1: Inside the mind of a LinkedIn writer is a dangerous place to visit. There are rocks and peaks and cliffs and valleys, sharp and jagged and scary and deep. With highs so high you think you’ve made it, lows so steep you think you’re half-wit. But soldier on, we do. For only losers quit.

2: An inevitable part of writing in public is failing in public. Failing sucks. But succeeding is even better. And people remember the successes and forget the failures. You should, too. Write on.

3: You learn far more from your failures than you do from your successes. Fail on.

4: You do far better by supporting your competitors and building them up than you do by fearing them or tearing them down. If you’re out only for No. 1, you should frequent some other site. LinkedIn is a lift-all-boats platform.

5: You grow far faster by having others boast about you than you do from boasting about yourself. Don’t boast. Lift on.

6: The most rewarding experience for me about growing here has been connecting people who don’t know each other and then seeing their connection grow and thrive beyond anything I ever had with either one of them to start.

7: The second most rewarding experience has been getting out there and meeting some connections IRL. Pictured is a little tribute to some of the great people I was so excited to meet and spend time with during my year 54:

Dena Lefkowitz Dena Lefkowitz, Esq.
Lisa Lang Lisa ⚖️ Lang
Min Cho Min Cho
Kristin Johnson & Mindy Fischer
Ross Guberman Ross Guberman
Joe Regalia Joe Regalia
Erin Dunn Erin Dunn
Jordana Confino Jordana Confino
Luke Cass Luke Cass
Jason Hicks Jason Hicks
Jonah Perlin Jonah Perlin
Emma Moses Emma Moses

(I’ve left the last square blank to encourage future expeditions and IRL meet-ups!)

💌 Amanda

🗳️ Do you post on your birthday? (Last year, I chickened out. This year, I’m posting asap so I won’t.)

🗳️ What’s been rewarding to you about writing on LinkedIn this past year? Anyone up for a visitor IRL this coming year?