Do people want you to fail? Do they find you cringe-worthy?

The context for this story may appear a little bizarre. Last night, after a hard running workout, I uploaded a reel on Instagram expressing an opinion on the importance of speed training. The exact message doesn’t matter. I’ve been trying to develop my Instagram for my running content, which is not an easy feat for an introvert like me. As much as I like writing, I am not very public. I hate public speaking. I’m very introverted. But I do want to grow my audience across several platforms and chose Instagram as one of them. I have experience growing my audience here on Medium and Substack, and I’m curious to see if I can also be successful on Instagram. It’s a very different platform, but ultimately the challenge is the same: post into the void with the goal of eventually finding an audience that appreciates your content.

At night — I have a bad habit of waking up and checking my phone — I got a WhatsApp message from my father saying, “Pardon me, but you look scary. Do you do blood tests?”

I was aware of looking gaunt and exhausted in my video. I had just finished one of the hardest workouts of my life — 20 by 400 meters! My blood work — I did it earlier this year — was perfect, by the way.

But I didn’t think I looked that bad.

While I don’t care much about other people’s opinions, this message from my father embarrassed me. I immediately deleted the Instagram video even though it was getting plays and even garnered followers as a…