I’ve been a web developer for years, but I’ve always had trouble sharing anything online.
It’s not that I don’t want to.
It’s that every time I try to post something, I get this wave of:
- “Who cares?”
- “This isn’t good enough.”
- “People will think I’m faking it.”
- “Someone smarter is going to call me out.”
So instead of posting, I’d just close the window.
Or save a draft.
Or promise myself I’d come back later.
And later never came.
The odd twist: I can build things — I just felt weird showing them
AI has actually made this stronger.
I use AI to assist with a lot of my code now.
I understand and modify everything, but I’m not typing everything by hand.
So the imposter syndrome whispers even louder:
“You didn’t really build this.”
Which is silly — because the point of building is to create, not to impress.
But brains do what brains do.
So I built something for myself
I made a tiny web app called Get Out There:
https://out.madsens.dev
The idea is very small:
- You get one daily challenge.
- The challenge is something gentle. Not content creation. Not exposure therapy.
- Just showing up in a tiny way.
Examples:
Write a post you’ll never publish.
Leave one kind comment today.
Share something small you’re quietly proud of.
You can mark it complete, optionally reflect in private, and your comfort score and streak grow a little.
No followers.
No likes.
No performance.
Just gentle practice.
Why this works for me
Because posting isn’t actually about the post.
It’s about being okay existing publicly.
It’s like the gym.
You don’t start by deadlifting 180kg.
You start by touching the bar.
Small steps count.
And most days, the hardest part is simply showing up at all.
It's live if you want to try it
No signup.
Anonymous by default.
No pressure to share anything publicly.
Just quiet growth:
If this resonates with you
Then you’re likely the kind of person who makes cool things quietly — but the world never sees them.
And honestly?
The internet needs more people like you.
Not louder ones.
Just present ones.
So if you try it, let me know how it feels — privately, publicly, anonymously, whatever works.
I’ll be right there doing my own Day 1 again, too.
Top comments (11)
I feel you, showing yourself can be tough. I really love your approach, going at it a small step at a time. In just read in rewire your mind by Shauna Shapiro to set "ridiculously unambitious goals". I like the phrasing. For topics we struggle at, we often need to collect a bit of confidence and momentum.
Also tried your app, looks great! I will see how far I can get. Love the offline first approach, how is the data synced to the server if one chooses to? I often struggle with syncing user data.
Thank you for your response. As for the app. The first time you visit the website it creates a user with basically no info except for the UUID. That info is stored locally on your computer (until you clear browser data). If and when you decide to create an account is basically just adds that additional information to the already created user.
So, in short, you have a completely anonymous user created that you can choose to add an email and password to. :)
Thank you very much for your reply. I saw you can also export your data to json. I really appreciate your approach to user data. It seems you have thought about it well in terms of combining privacy and usability.
I think it's an important aspect of the concept. You should feel comfortable using the web app. It shouldn't feel like you're sharing or writing something others can see or that in some way can be tracked back to you.
It should be a safe place where you can practice showing up and evolve. Anonymity is crucial for this sort of thing where you're trying to get out of your comfort zone and work on yourself.
Thank you for your awesome response. :)
This is such a beautiful idea — I love how you turned something that felt uncomfortable into a gentle practice.
It really resonates — especially the part about “just showing up in a tiny way”.
As someone who often overthinks before posting, this feels like the kindest approach to creativity and visibility. 🌱
Thank you for the wonderful feedback! 😀🌱
Hi Christoffer! Your article really landed — and I’m glad it did.
I know that feeling you described:
And then, as you wrote so perfectly:
That voice gets loud. And reading your post felt like someone finally said it out loud — not to sell anything, but to share something real. It’s not about marketing, it’s about creativity and showing up despite the doubts. Thank you for that.
Thank you for such a wholeheartedly response to my article. It really means a lot hearing how it resonates with people.
Keep showing up, Ecaterina! 🌱
Nice!
Thanks! 🌱
Such a thoughtful idea. Small, pressure-free steps are exactly what many of us need.
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