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.
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. 🌱