Pamphlet or Not, I Wrote the Damn Book

I wrote a book last year. Well, it's actually more like a pamphlet. It's around twenty-five pages or so, with big fonts and pictures. It teeters on the edge of being an extended blog post dressed up in a cover.

And for a long time, I was embarrassed to call it a book.

I'd reference it in conversation and then immediately qualify it: "It's not really a full book, more like a guide..." or "It's short, don't get too excited..." I was preemptively shrinking something I'd actually done, just in case someone judged it as not enough.

But here's the thing: I wrote it. I organized thoughts that had been rattling around in my head for years. I edited it. I formatted it. I got it into the hands of people who told me it changed something for them. The length doesn't erase any of that.

We do this constantly — minimize our own work before anyone else gets the chance to. We call our business "just a little side thing." We say our LinkedIn following is "not that big." We describe our promotion as "kind of a lateral move." We rob ourselves of the credit before anyone even asks.

I think it comes from fear. If you downplay it first, the potential disappointment of others doesn't land as hard. If you set the bar low, nobody can be underwhelmed. But what you're actually doing is training people — including yourself — to take your work less seriously.

Own what you've built. All of it. The messy, imperfect, smaller-than-you-hoped version counts. The thing you did even though it wasn't perfect counts. The effort you made when you were scared counts.

Pamphlet or not, I wrote the damn book. And that's more than most people will ever do.