Are you avoiding showing up on social media out of fear of being cringey? 

I have been there! But I saw something on TikTok that applies to this fear, and I wanted to pass it along to anyone who needs to get out of their own way and start producing content. 

It’s called “Cringe Mountain.” 

The fear is real—and we all feel it

Take a look at the image I’m holding up in the Instagram post (or just picture a mountain in your head), and imagine yourself at the starting point if you’re new to creating videos for social media. 

There isn’t a single video creator on social media who hasn’t started there. They know the cringe. And the ones who have grown since then will be your biggest cheerleaders. 

As you’re climbing, you’re going to feel imposter syndrome, the fear of judgment, and overall,  super uncomfortable. And it sucks. Climbing up Cringe Mountain sucks. No way around that. 

But once you reach a certain point, and you’re on the other side, that’s when you start to see all of the rewards. 

Who knows? Your cringiest video might be the one that opens the door to the biggest opportunity yet.

When I finally started showing up on video with Instagram, that’s when I really started to see opportunities open. I was asked to be on podcasts, my business was featured on different websites, and I made deeper connections and grew a bigger community here.

You will, too. 

If you embrace the cringey-ness and just keep climbing, you’ll also see incredible business and personal growth. 

Everyone starts out where you are

Ask anyone who’s gotten to where you want to be, and they’ll have at least one story of a video they made that makes them cringe so hard they pull a muscle whenever they think about it. But they’re also proud of the fact that they kept going and learning and improving. 

Where they are right now is not where they started. And in a year’s time, if you start climbing Cringe Mountain and you keep going, there’s no telling how far you’ll get (or how many cringey stories you’ll have to share). And your audience will love them.

So, just keep on climbing. I swear, once you hit that peak, it’s not as cringey anymore, it doesn’t suck nearly as much, and it starts to get a lot better. 

Plus, then you’ll get to cheer on new video creators who start where you are now. 

If you’re a real estate agent feeling nervous about showing up on video, this is for you. Video content is the new billboards, magazine ads, and commercials. More consumers rely on video today than ever before to learn about brands. 

Need some help getting started?

Try our One Week Challenge to start showing up on video and building your online presence on Instagram. 

Or if you’re struggling to come up with ideas for your first videos, check out these posts:

And remember, the most important thing is to keep going!

Learn how Coffee & Contracts can help you with your social media content here!