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"How do I even know what to write about?"
It's the question I hear a lot, and it always comes with the same trepidation, like there's a secret list of “Approved LinkedIn Topics” they never got a copy of.
Here's what I think is really going on.
If you open LinkedIn on a normal Tuesday, it reads like a highlight reel.
Someone launched a company, someone else is celebrating a new client, and another person is giving us the lessons they learned from closing the biggest deal in their career!
So when your own week was mostly meetings, one small win you're not sure counts, and a thing your kid said in the car, it feels too ordinary to post. So you either try reaching for something you think you should post or don’t post at all.
But those seemingly little moments are the ones people lean into the most because they’re living through a variation of it, too.
What feels like second nature to you is often brand new to someone else.
The shortcut you stopped noticing years ago is the exact thing the person a few steps behind you is searching for right now.
The obstacle is the habit of disqualifying our own ideas for not being big enough.
The fix is to stop asking what you should post, and start asking what you'd talk about anyway.
My rule for clients is simple. Write about the things you could talk about all day without getting bored or sick of them.
Then, run it through what I call the Eavesdrop Test. Picture someone at the table next to you overhearing what you're about to write. If they'd want to keep listening, you've got your post.
This is also why so many people burn out on LinkedIn. When you write what you think people want to hear, you end up auditioning. You polish a version of yourself you'd never bring up to the people you care about, and keeping that performance running is exhausting. That's the real reason posting starts to feel like a chore.
The ordinary stuff is easier to write because you're not performing. You already know it by heart.
If that still feels vague, here's what ordinary looks like. Use these to inspire your next batch of posts:
The advice you catch yourself giving your team time and time again.
The shortcut you use on autopilot so you forget it isn't obvious to everyone.
A decision you reversed halfway through a meeting, and the thing that made you reconsider.
Something you started doing in meetings that’s helped decisions stick and keep everyone on the same page.
A mistake from early in your career that still shapes how you work today.
A small change to how your team works that gave everyone time back in their day.
Something outside of work you're a little obsessed with right now, like a show, a hobby, whatever it is.
Something a client said offhand that stuck with you and shifted how you think.
The thing you wish someone had told you in your first year in this role.
A rule of thumb you trust so much you've stopped questioning where it came from.
Try at least one of these this week.
Write it down the way you'd say it out loud, or better yet, open a voice note and start talking. Either way, you're most of the way there. It’ll just need some polish before publishing.
And if the blank page still wins on the hard days, that's exactly what my LinkedIn Prompt Guide is for. You’ll get 10 more prompts that pull the real, worth-saying stuff built on my MEAL Method so it actually holds together as a post.
P.S. Next time you catch yourself thinking "that's too small to post," take it as a sign you’re on the right path.
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