If you haven’t read this, it’s new to you

Last week a client told me she didn’t want to comment on LinkedIn posts because she was afraid of what people would think.

This is a fear to which I can definitely relate. I only recently started writing publicly, and it took a while to get over the worry about being judged or criticized.

It helps that I had my first nasty comment on one of my LinkedIn posts a few weeks ago. And I survived! (To be fair, I will probably graduate to nastier comments, but the aggressiveness of this one caught me off guard.)

On Tuesdays I share a post related to my newsletter content, with a link to Almavina Insights on almavina.com. Back in December, you’ll recall that I wrote about my client who described her ideal school environment. It was a pretty tame post – just a vision of a lovely school culture and commentary about how the principles could apply to any work culture in any industry.

Someone who I am not connected to and don’t know went on a little rant that started with “None of this is new!” She continued to say she had been in plenty of workplaces that fit that description and continued with a semi-coherent discussion of the responsibility of leadership. I thought about how and whether to respond and finally went with something along the lines of “I’m so glad you have had the opportunity to experience a positive work environment; they do exist; unfortunately that was not the case for my client and isn’t the case for many people.”

But the “none of this is new” part really stung. Inside my head I admit I got a little defensive. “I never claimed I was sharing something groundbreaking and new – I was sharing a story about a client and how I connected with her vision.”

Does everything shared have to be “new” to be valuable?

And then I immediately thought of Ann Patchett. (Did you just hear that noise in your head that signifies a hard pivot – like a car taking a turn without applying the breaks? 🤣) Bear with me, I’ll make the connection for you.

I follow Parnassus Books on Instagram, which is the bookstore in Nashville that is owned by the outrageously talented author Ann Patchett. On Fridays, Ann does a post where she shares books that have been out for a long time. These are not new releases… so, in the words of my LinkedIn friend, “none of this is new.” And Ann starts the video each week saying this:

“Hi everybody. It’s Ann Patchett at Parnassus Books. It’s Friday, and if you haven’t read this book, it’s new to you.”

They are not new books. But in nearly every case, the books are NEW TO ME.

So, I agree with you, dear commenter. None of this IS new.

But, IF…

• You haven’t thought about this topic at all
• Or you haven’t thought about this topic this way
• Or you are struggling with the problem I am describing
• Or you need to feel seen
• Or you need to hear this message on this day
• Or…
• Or…
• Or…

… Then it’s new to you.

I hope you continue to find value in my “not new” content. 😉

And if you, too, are struggling with jumping in and contributing your voice to the conversation — just do it! Someone out there needs to hear what you have to say.