How to create content when life falls apart

This week has been a rough one for me. I fell ill with a hacking cough and had an allergic reaction to my hairspray which caused severe skin irritation.

Suffice to say, it isn’t my best week on planet Earth.

But that’s just the physical stuff.

Among my clients, collaborators and friends, I know of people going through severe psychological, personal and professional challenges that are deeply distressing. I have experienced many of these myself.

Today I’m going to do something I’ve never done before: share a taste of the top-level advice on writing during tough times that I reserve for my VIP clients.

Given how acutely I feel everything this week, I feel like I’m meant to put this out there, even if it only helps one person.

NB: If you are suffering from serious mental health challenges, please talk to a trained counsellor or psychologist. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice.

1. When you’re feeling upset, tired or angry

As a rule, many content coaches suggest you batch content in advance and schedule it. I personally don’t recommend this. You’ll post and forget to engage with your audience in the golden hour, or the first 60 minutes. But that’s the least of your problems.

The real reason not to batch your content creation is that you need to develop a constant habit of writing. Twice weekly, weekly, twice a month. The rhythm is what matters. Without it, you’ll never improve at the craft.

The next reason is slightly more woo-woo. There is an energy in our writing. When you write in real time (like I am doing right now), you transmit that energy to the reader. It is important that when you press publish, you are transmitting the energy you want to transmit to your audiences.

Which also means that when you write from a place of immensely negative energy, it is almost impossible to pass on positivity, growth and support to others. Your efforts will only backfire.

Does that mean you don’t communicate at all when times are tough? Quite the opposite. Raise your life force first. Go on a run. Do some yoga. Have an excellent meal. Talk to a friend, a mentor, or a therapist. Then come back and write when you feel better.

In a nutshell:

• Don’t batch content. Build a consistent writing rhythm and habit instead.
• Your writing carries your energy. Negative energy produces negative content.
• Raise your mood first, then write.

2. When you’re facing personal or professional challenges

When you are going through difficult challenges such as bereavement, chronic illness, miscarriage, divorce or retrenchment, there is an understandable search for catharsis. Writing about it feels like release.

However, please realize that there’s a world of difference between visibility and privacy. Visibility is when you write about your work, your North Star, your mission, your professional value proposition. You can be 100% visible and STILL 100% private. Most people assume that to be visible, they have to overshare personal issues that have no relevance to their professional contribution.

If you are a matrimonial lawyer, then I would understand if you regularly talk about your own divorce. If you are a career coach, I would understand if you talk about your retrenchment. The personal experience directly informs the professional offer.

But if you are, say, a finance executive, and your entire identity becomes your personal crisis, it can backfire. You risk becoming one-dimensional instead of the multidimensional expert you need to be to attract high-quality clients and recruiters. These kinds of conversations are better kept private with a trained counsellor or psychologist, not out there in the court of public judgment which is psychologically unsafe for you. You may also consider starting a simple paper & pen journal habit.

And here’s the deeper point. When your language is so deeply emotional about a topic, it signals that the incident is still an open wound.

We do not discuss open wounds. We only discuss healed scars.

When you discuss an open wound, you are still in “SOS, SOS, SOS” mode: looking for affirmation, retribution, payback. You’re projecting your pain onto the world. It would be much safer to talk to a therapist or mentor during this period. Furthermore, our writing may also be highly triggering to people going through that particular crisis, and the rule is we do not create content that causes further grief to our readers. Listen to Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility."

When you discuss a healed scar, you are in “give, give, give” mode: using your experience to support others on a similar journey. You’re projecting your learning, not your pain.

Time is the best healer. I suggest you work on self-healing and processing the trauma with a trained professional for at least 6–12 months before discussing anything deeply personal on a public platform (if at all).

In a nutshell:

• You can be 100% visible and 100% private. The two are not mutually exclusive.
• Discuss healed scars, not open wounds. Scars teach. Wounds project.
• Wait 6–12 months before sharing deeply personal experiences publicly (if at all)

3. When you feel like people are out to attack you

Having been a full-time professional content creator for five years, I’ve seen everything under the sun. The skeptics with fixed mindsets. The critics who love to remind you how wrong you are. And the haters, who stick around to inflict pain because of the hurt they can no longer keep inside.

Happy people aren’t haters. Only unhappy people are haters.

My general advisory: you cannot negotiate with terrorists. If someone is genuinely open to discussion, you can engage them professionally in the comments. But nobody comes to social media to change their fixed mindset in 30–40 words.

And if they’re causing pain on your posts? Remember this: "My house, my rules." Block them.

Your content is a powerful magnet. It attracts those who love you, want to support you, and want to buy from you. It also repels those who never will. Both outcomes are correct and healthy. For those who do not unfollow you on their own, you may need to assist them along.

Among my clients, especially in Asia, we are highly anti-conflict. Women especially are conditioned to be societally agreeable. We want everyone to love us. But even if you tried to please 100 people, at least 2–3 will still dislike you no matter how hard you try. So block out the noise. Create a zone of psychological safety for yourself and your community.

In a nutshell:

• Your content is a magnet. It attracts and repels. Both are doing their job.
• Do not engage haters and trolls. Block and move on.
• Your house, your rules. Always prioritize your psychological safety.

Tough times happen to the best of us

In case you didn't realize by now, content coaching is also 100% therapy, 100% mindset work, 100% crisis support. And when things fall apart, that’s when you really need someone in your corner.

Not to be morbid here, but as a long-time Games of Thrones fan, I’ll paraphrase the priestess Melisandre: "The night is dark and full of terrors."

When you have lived as long as I have, and worked with highly visible public personas and senior executives running multinational teams, the stakes get a lot higher and the problems get much more complex.

If you are facing a similar situation, please don’t do this alone without support.

Let me be that person for you.

🚨 Last call for April 2026 Mastermind 🚨

I hope my newsletter was helpful to you today. This kind of crisis communication and content strategy is a high-level service that I provide exclusively to my top-tier Mastermind clients when they reach out for help.

This is a sneak peek into what I do for them.

In our April 2026 intake, we will welcome 10 new Mastermind cadets into our community. Join my flagship 12-month Brand Builder Mastermind to work with me.

Build a brand. Speak & write better. Make money from it. Once onboarded, your Mastermind subscription will launch on 1st April 2026.

📌 We have one spot left in the Mastermind. This is my last call!

With love, 💗 
Juliana your supportive LinkedIn bestie