Why AREN’T you promoting your Great Work?
- 55 minutes ago
- 2 min read
There’s no question that your work is Great Work 👈
And yet, you’re not getting the word out about it. Or at least, not much. Or not in a way that’s getting you somewhere.
It might be a book you haven’t been talking about.
A program you want to fill but don't mention to likely participants.
A newsletter you write but don’t really invite people to subscribe to.
A coaching practice you don't invite people to discuss
This probably feels like procrastination.
You tell yourself you need to be more consistent, or more disciplined, or finally get your act together.
But, I don’t think that’s what’s happening.
I think, subconsciously, you’re protecting your Great Work.
So, instead of putting it out there and experiencing productive failure, like:
Messing up the technology or doing it wrong.
Seeing it get simplified, twisted, or misunderstood.
Watching it be ignored.
You hold back. You do nothing. You avoid productive failure by engaging in defensive failure, which (in my opinion) comes at a much higher cost.
The problem is that defensive failure feels very reasonable!
We say, “I don’t want to rush it” or “It’s best not to force it.” And it sounds so adult. "Right. I'm not in a hurry. I can take my time."
But too many defensive failures keep your Great Work exactly where it is. Stuck.
Let’s find out why you aren’t promoting your Great Work
I made something for you! It’s a cosmo-style quiz that will reveal where this defensive failure tends to pop up and why. You'll gain insight into your specific weak spot and learn how to work around it.
This is hard to see from the inside. The quiz will help.
It will take less than 10 minutes, and you’ll get a full report that will help you do things differently.
Take the quiz: https://www.amandacrowell.com/why-arent-you-promoting-quiz
But that’s not all!
Once you have your results, you'll want to attend the class I’m teaching this Wednesday, called Why You Aren’t Promoting Your Great Work. In it, we’ll unpack defensive failure further and learn how to pave a new way. It will be fun and illuminating.
See you tomorrow!!!
Amanda
Amanda Crowell is the author of Great Work: Do What Matters Most Without Sacrificing Everything Else (2nd ed), with accompanying classes, podcasts and journal. She is a Doctoral Lecturer at Hunter College in New York, who originally published this piece on April 22, 2026. We cross-post it here with her permission. You can contact Amanda via email here.
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slated for release in three weeks!