So for 2026, my word of the year was audacity. Specifically, how I’m gonna have more audacity online as an introverted business owner. Because as someone who spends a lot of time online, I have to admit that expressing yourself and sharing your opinions on the internet is terrifying.

The internet can be a very scary place.

You can share something from a completely good place, and people will still twist it and turn it on you.

Remember during COVID when that woman posted about sitting in her garden with her husband, and people went absolutely bananas?

And on top of that there’s also this constant, nagging worry: What if I accidentally annoy the hell out of people?

For a long time, this was one of my biggest struggles. I didn’t want to annoy anyone. But I eventually came to a realization:

If you aren't willing to promote yourself, show up, and sell your ideas in the best possible way, nobody else is going to do it for you. Nobody is going to have more audacity for you.

So at this point in my business and in my life, I would generally rather be seen and be annoying than be nice and invisible. I want to intentionally take up space and be visible to the right people.

Here is the running list of how I’ve been practising audacity this year, and how I’m continuing to do it:

1. I am willing to create stuff that will flop

I’ve embraced the idea that not every single piece of content is going to do well, and I am  okay with that. For me, what’s important is that I am actively expressing myself, rather than only trying to manufacture content designed to go viral (by the way, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to go viral, I’ve learned that focusing too much on it can remove the joy out of creating content). As much as I’m here for business, I’m also here for the joy of creating, to build a community, and to connect with people but even beyond that, it's about the freedom to just say what I want to say. When I stop worrying about whether a post is going to fly or faceplant, I give myself permission to be completely authentic.

2. I’m willing to say the scary thing

Now, I don’t do this constantly because I deeply value a regulated nervous system, and I don't want to live in a constant state of anxiety. But every now and then, I remind myself that the things we are most afraid to say are usually the exact things that will help people the most. In my experience, almost every time I’ve taken the leap to say the really scary thing, it has strongly resonated with other people.

3. Accepting nuance (and outsourcing media literacy back to the reader)

If I say "I like waffles" and someone comments "Oh, so you hate pancakes?" that is a severe lack of internet media literacy, and it is a them problem, not a me problem. Having audacity means refusing to write 20 disclaimers on every single piece of content just cause people don’t understand nuance. To be completely honest, this one is hella hard for me because I am a recovering over-explainer. But I fully believe that many of the things we talk about online have deep nuance. It's not always black and white, and I'm trusting that most people will figure that part out. And if they don't, I don't know man… there's nothing I can do to help.

4. Not abandoning my own POV every time someone else's strategy blows up

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my business was developing genuine confidence in my own ideas. When I see someone else blowing up online, I don’t drop everything I’m doing to copy exactly what they're doing. And this applies to my clients, too. I don’t care what’s popular in your industry or what your peers are doing to get success. What matters to me is whether a strategy will actually work long-term for YOU.

5. I am willing to be annoying

Like I said, I’d rather be visible and annoying than invisible. I’m at a point in my life and in my business where I want to take up more space. If some people find that annoying, that’s completely okay, because I’m not doing it for them anyway. I’m doing it for the right people, the ones who will actually find me, get value from what I share, and truly connect with my content.

6. I'm okay with sharing half-baked ideas

Not every single idea I share has to be fully formed before I talk about it. I’ve found that sometimes the best way to build a community and spark deep conversations online is by being willing to put out a half-baked concept and work it out alongside other people. I’m giving myself permission to actively think out loud, instead of hiding behind the pressure of needing to look like a perfect expert with a perfectly polished thought every single time.

7. Done is better than perfect

I’m a bit of a perfectionist, which means it can  take me way longer than it should to put stuff out into the world. This year, I’m learning to be completely okay with "good enough." If I post a thread or share an idea and it’s not absolutely flawless, that’s fine. I can always come back and refine it later. For example, I published this blog post on the same day I wrote iy. This is a first for me. But like I said, I can always refine it later. The important thing is that the idea actually gets out there because getting the thought out into the world matters infinitely more than keeping a perfect draft hidden away where nobody can see it.

8. I am happy to post for a handful of people instead of the algorithm

Last year, I made the decision to focus less on numbers. Now, from a business perspective, numbers are always going to matterl. But at the same time, I am way more focused on depth over reach. If I can have just three or four people (which is techncially the amount of people I need to work with to be booked) read my content and be like, “This person is in my head reading my mind. How do they know exactly how I feel?” and have them decide that I'm the person they want to work with, that is my actual goal. My goal is no longer to be seen by the maximum number of people, but to create content that resonates deeply with a few of the right people.

So what about you? What are you doing to be a little more audacious this year?

Share it in the comments!

And thanks for reading , don’t forget to share it with others.

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