Create something today, then make it findable
I came across an unattributed quote on X yesterday that stopped me mid-scroll: “Create something new today, even if no one else sees it.”
There’s something wonderfully selfish about that sentiment, and I mean that as a genuine compliment. It asks nothing of an audience. It requires no permission, no guarantee that anyone will ever read it, watch it, or care. You create because the act itself is worth doing, full stop.
And yet the moment something exists that didn’t exist before, that selfishness quietly flips into something else entirely.
The selfish act that becomes altruistic by accident #
Here’s what I mean. The creating itself is for you: the satisfaction of working something out, of putting a scattered thought into a shape it didn’t have an hour before. Nobody else’s approval is required for that part. It’s complete in itself.
But once it exists, it’s available. It sits there, patiently, as something that could help somebody, inform somebody, or simply reach somebody at the right moment, whether or not you’re ever aware it happened. The altruism isn’t in the writing. It’s in what the writing becomes capable of, purely by virtue of existing.
There’s another line I came across recently, also unattributed, that captures this delay perfectly: writing a book is like telling a joke and not finding out whether it’s funny for a year or two. Anyone who has ever created something and then had to wait, genuinely wait, to discover whether it landed, will recognise that feeling instantly.
I’ve experienced this myself. Back in 2012, I read a piece of research about mobile phones and personal relationships, and something about it struck me enough to write it down. No audience in mind. No plan for it to go anywhere. It sat, essentially forgotten, until this year, when I dug it out, checked whether the research still held up, and turned it into something genuinely useful for people reading now. The writing in 2012 was entirely selfish. What it became, fourteen years later, was something else.
Why “even if no one sees it” isn’t the whole story #
Here’s where I’d gently push back on the original quote, though. “Even if no one sees it” is a beautiful permission to create without waiting for an audience. But it isn’t an argument against ever being found. Those are two different things, and mixing them up costs a lot of good work its chance to matter.
Findability isn’t a betrayal of the pure, selfish act of creating. It’s what turns a private moment of self-expression into something capable of reaching the person it was, without your knowing it, meant for. A journal entry helps only the person who wrote it. The same words, made findable, might help a stranger going through exactly what you once went through.
Create first. Make findable second. #
Don’t let the fear of no audience stop you creating. That instinct, on its own, is entirely healthy; some of the best work starts with nobody in mind at all.
But once it exists, give it a chance. Write it down properly. Structure it so it can be found. Publish it somewhere it can be discovered by the person who, one day, might need exactly what you made.
Create something today, even if no one sees it yet.
Then make sure they eventually can.
Thank you for reading.
Author: Richard Bull-Domican, founder of New Era Financial Introductions, a B2B lead generation consultancy with over twenty years of experience. The perspectives shared here come from two decades in the field; not theory, but practice.
I create small, digestible guides on Gumroad for business owners who hate aggressive tactics and prefer relationship-led approaches. New resources are added regularly. For longer reads on lead generation and the human side of sales, follow me on Medium and join the daily conversation on LinkedIn.
Gumroad: https://richardbulldomican.gumroad.com/
Medium: https://medium.com/@richard-bulldomican
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardbulldomican/
