What is Substack Envy?
When you are envious of the growth, check mark (transparent, filled in, or that they have one and you donât!), and overall curb appeal of a Substack that isnât yours.
Some of you might be reading this and thinking to yourself, âI donât suffer from Substack Envy!â Really? Letâs see if that is true.
Signs you may be suffering from Substack Envy
Ever find yourself reading the Substack Reads email and wish your Substack was mentioned? Or try to avoid Thursday Shoutouts because you know itâs frowned upon to shoutout yourself and you also know that no one is going to shout you out. But why? đ˘
And donât you just hate those Notes from the Substack team that come along every once in a while asking us for our favorite thing we read so we can share and highlight someone else. But what about me? đ
If any of this sounds familiar to you then, I regret to inform you that you suffer from Substack Envy.
Not to worry! There is a cure! It might seem painful at first and can take a really long time to cure, but it is possible.
The cure for Substack Envy
Every moment of envy is, in fact, a teachable moment! Use it as a time to reflect. What is it about that Substack you envy that makes them more desirable to readers? If youâre not even in the same niche, donât bother doing this exercise as you canât (and shouldnât) compare apples to oranges.
Cliche saying incoming! No two paths are the same! Sure, we see someone elseâs success and almost always say âwhy not me?â or âI can do that!â But what you should be focusing on is your own journey. Maybe theyâve been at it for way longer than you have. Maybe they have some level of expertise in that thing that you donât. Or maybe they just said the right thing at the right time in that moment. Whatever the reason for their success it in no way impedes upon your ability to have success. So donât sweat it! Your day will come.
How do you define success? Sure, thatâs more a question than a cure but the answer can be medicinal. And try, if you can, not to measure or define your success by what âheâs got going over there.â Itâs not a âI want whatever heâs gotâ kind of answer. Be serious. Not everyone who writes is doing it so they can pay the bills. Sure some of us hope to wind up like that, but many of us are pretty set with our financial situation and are writing for fun or just want to see their work enjoyed by others and if that leads to a bit of pocket money, great! Writing on Substack doesnât always have to be a zero sum game. It can just be a fun activity you have the time to do and you enjoy it and let that be the end of it. Thatâs not to say if money is a determining factor as to whether or not you can continue to do it, then sure, put on your business hat and crunch the proverbial numbers. How many paid subs to you need? Start small and within your means. Donât aim too high. Which leads me to the next cure:
Failure is not an option! This is the tough pill you must swallow to get over the envy. Because we are all vastly different we will all have different levels of ups and downs. We want to have way more ups and hardly any downs. In order to achieve that we need to be real with ourselves. Stop trying to compete with what someone else is doing and start maximizing what we can do and do it better every time! Do I want to write a novel or a series that contains 60+ epic sized books? HELL YES! But Iâm not stupid! My goal is not that! I gotta think within my means. What can I do today? Today I can write one 100 word story. Thatâs it. Itâs not my epic novel by any stretch of the imagination. But (and hereâs another cliche) Rome wasnât built in a day. My novel will come. My series will come. But today Iâm going to be awesome at writing 100 word stories to the point where no one can touch my super powers! Failure is not an option for me. Because no matter whatever happens in my day I will always have at least 15min to spare to write 100 words.
IN CONCLUSION
Take the envy youâre feeling and turn it into a positive. And it doesnât have to apply just to Substack. I have so much envy when I look at all the books on my shelves. Where are my books! đĽ˛
Now, itâs my fuel, my inspiration, my motivation. If I want that I canât complain about it but ask myself, âwhat are you doing about it?â
And then get to work!
I just made my substack account recently and have been working hard to attract some subscribers. Today I saw a random Note from someone brand new without any posts that got way more likes than anything Iâve done so far, and the envy was REAL đ
All that is to say, your point about âno two paths are the sameâ was very helpful to me, thanks đ
Exactly what I needed to hear this morning, thank you!