7/8/25

🎤 TED Talk Tuesday: Your Designs Are Worthy (Even if They Don’t Go Viral)

Let’s just rip the Band-Aid off right now:

The number of likes on your post does not determine the value of your work.
Read that again. Then maybe put it on a sticky note. Tattoo it on your brain if needed.

Because if you’ve ever stared at your screen and thought:

“Well… this design only got 12 likes. Maybe it’s not good enough. Maybe I’m not good enough.”

—then welcome to the club. And also: STOP THAT.

Let’s be clear:
The algorithm didn’t like your post. That’s all.
Not the design. Not your talent. Not your creativity.
Just the timing, the reach, the mood of a soulless machine that decides whether or not your work gets seen.

It blinked. It shrugged. It gave your masterpiece the silent treatment while giving 48,000 views to a video of someone peeling glue off their hand.

Does that mean your design flopped?
No.
Does that mean it was ugly?
No.
Does that mean you should throw it in your digital trash bin and cry into your mockup folder named “maybe next time”?
Absolutely not.

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Let’s reframe what success actually looks like.

Success isn’t always explosive. It’s not always confetti and comment floods and Shopify notifications lighting up like a Christmas tree.

Sometimes success looks like:

• That one customer who bought the file and left a review that made you cry a little.

• The quiet friend who DMs you and says, “This is so you. I love this vibe.”

• A single post save, from someone who didn’t need it today—but will come back for it later.

• Or maybe just you, sitting at your desk, proud of what you made because it felt like YOU.

That matters. More than you know.

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You are not just your "best sellers."

Let’s talk about those designs that don’t fly off the shelves the minute they’re uploaded.

Some are slow burns.
Some are ahead of their time.
Some are for a niche that doesn’t live on your feed but will find you eventually.
And some? They’re just for you.

Guess what? That’s not a failure. That’s a flex.

You created something because you had something to say, something to share, something to express.

That’s art. That’s business. That’s soul work.

And it’s worth something even if the stats don’t immediately scream “viral hit.”

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Because virality isn’t the goal. Longevity is.

Sure, going viral is fun. It’s a rush. It feels validating—until it doesn’t.

Because viral posts fade. Fast.
They get replaced by the next trend, the next soundbite, the next aesthetic.

But authenticity?
That builds something bigger. Something sustainable. Something real.

When you show up with your real voice, your real designs, and your real joy—you don’t just chase trends. You build a brand. You grow trust. You create a body of work that lasts.

So yeah—maybe your post didn’t go viral today.

But you showed up.
You created.
You added something to the world that didn’t exist yesterday.

That counts. And it counts big.

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Final thought (and maybe a little tough love):

Please stop measuring your worth—or your design’s worth—by how many likes it got in the first 6 hours.

That’s not how this works.

That’s not how any of this works.

Keep creating. Keep posting. Keep putting your weird, wonderful, niche, heartfelt, hilarious, moody, or magical designs out there.

Some will hit. Some won’t.
But all of them matter.
Because they came from you—and that’s what your people show up for.

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TL;DR:

A design that doesn’t go viral isn’t a failure. It’s just another piece of your creative journey.
Some things are meant to pop.
Others are meant to build.
But everything you make with heart is worthy.

Always.

Now close your stats, open your procreate, canva, photoshop, whatever, and make something weird and wonderful again.