The three laws of LinkedIn

Find Your Superpower newsletter 028

Read time: 6 minutes

Topics covered: abundance mindset, law of attraction, manifestation, law of reciprocity

Six years ago, you would have found me rushing through the corridors of a hallowed university building, with any one of these thoughts flowing through my head: have I pumped enough breastmilk for the baby, has my elder child’s dental appointment been scheduled, did I remember to upload my slides for my lecture, is my graduate student’s thesis on track?

If you had somehow managed to catch my attention and asked me, “What is your professional brand on LinkedIn?” I would have laughed out loud and thought you were insane or trying to waste my time.

If you had then said, “Your LinkedIn profile is incomplete. Have you thought of completing it?” I would have given you a big hug and told you that it is not a big deal, I don’t need a job right now.

But it so happens that all of us are playing the same game–the game of life.

Life takes you dragging and screaming

Life has been known to deal all of us with unexpected hands, forcing us to abruptly change our career plans altogether… from pandemics to mass layoffs, company bankruptcy, economic tailwinds, chronic illness, disability, pregnancy and childcare, elderly caregiving, divorce or the death of a loved one.

That was basically what happened to me, forcing me to make two career pivots in these milestone years:

• 2018: my sudden and unplanned resignation

• 2020: the pandemic push to digital

In 2018, I was not holding up very well. With a toddler and an infant at home, a full research and lecturing schedule, and my blossoming science magazine Asian Scientist, I was barely getting enough rest.

For those reading this who are putting out fires in all directions 24-7, I know from experience that you can’t be excelling in everything–because your energy, time, health and power are being splintered into many tiny little pieces.

Over the next two years, I slowly started to find my footing as a media entrepreneur. Running a publishing business is a full-time job and my kids were into their terrible twos and threes. As expected, I very quickly relegated my social media strategy to the bottom of my to-do list.

2020 however, swiftly brought all my best-laid plans to an end. The sudden onset of the COVID-19 pandemic turned everyone’s lives upside down. As a print publisher, it was like the tide went out and revealed all of us were swimming naked, lacking in a coherent digital brand strategy.

Besides infecting billions of people with the coronavirus, the pandemic also ushered in a new era where everyone is now their own company. For remote workers, consultants, solopreneurs, freelancers and gig workers, a professional brand online was now no longer “nice to have,” but a direct source to income.

The sheer, untapped power of LinkedIn

From 2020 to 2023, I went on a wild ride of posting on LinkedIn daily, getting a LinkedIn Top Voice honor, then accidentally growing it into a speaking and coaching business and making lots of real-life friends from the platform.

In my 1:1 coaching and corporate training sessions I have found that many people don’t really understand the power of LinkedIn and how to make it work for them.

Yes, they may use LinkedIn to snoop into what their industry peers are up to, or to scan for job openings. Yes, I also know many successful people who have never ever posted anything on LinkedIn and are doing just fine.

That said, instead of doomsday scrolling and lurking like 90% of LinkedIn users, why not make it work harder for us?

Listen, I do not claim to be some guru. The three laws–the laws of abundance, attraction and reciprocity–are age-old ideas that I adopted because they work for me. They have worked before the internet was even invented.

My LinkedIn Success Mindset e-book and video course talks about these laws as applied to LinkedIn:

• The law of abundance

One way that we keep ourselves artificially small and quiet is believing the world works like a zero-sum game. We may perhaps think that we don’t have the right to be as successful as Sarah Blakely or Richard Branson, who are so much more accomplished than we are. But that’s not true–you and I have so much to share. To unleash true success in our lives, we must first believe in abundance, that there is enough goodness to go around, and that some of it can go to us.

• The law of attraction

What are your intentions for posting on LinkedIn? What kind of energy are you injecting into your posts and profile in general? Do you secretly think that posting on LinkedIn is a hassle, and something you “have to” tick off because someone said it is good for you, like eating broccoli and spinach? Being highly intentional about why we post and having clear professional intentions for each post are key to making LinkedIn work for us.

• The law of reciprocity

Are you joyfully sharing your knowledge and goodness with the world because you want to give out more value than you take? Or are you mostly self-oriented and using LinkedIn to humble brag about your latest awards, promotions and the VIPs you’ve met? Do you invest your time and effort into building meaningful relationships online such as by commenting on good posts? To me, reading someone’s post and commenting on it is an act of listening and giving.

The LinkedIn Success Mindset course

I get paid thousands of dollars to teach the above ideas to corporates and 1:1 coaching students. This e-book and video course is a compilation of as much as I know into something you can read in a couple of hours.

My LinkedIn Success Mindset course will be launching in October 2023, and if you'd like to pre-order, early-birds will get 30% off with the discount code "ABUNDANCE30".

I’ll also be inviting you to join me in a LIVE Zoom call and Q&A session at a later date. For those who cannot make it, you can always catch the recording later.

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Thanks for reading issue 027 of my weekly Find Your Superpower newsletter.

For those of you who are new to my newsletter, Find Your Superpower is subscribed to by 25,000+ people, and discusses the following three goals: (1) Making a career transition, (2) Professional branding on LinkedIn, and (3) Reinventing ourselves for the future of work.

My newsletter will be on hiatus next week as I will be taking my company on our 3D2N annual company retreat to Bali, Indonesia. Our retreat theme is “Eat, Play, Love” and I will be spending time with my colleagues in person, exploring the best of Bali’s natural wonders, practicing yoga and meditation, and making new memories!

See you in two weeks. 🏝️🍹

Besides my newsletter:

- Pre-order my e-book and video course, The LinkedIn Success Mindset, which will be launching in October 2023. In this all-in-one guide to LinkedIn, we will learn how to manage our mindset, take action and avoid making cardinal sins on the platform.

- Have you taken my masterclass on LinkedIn professional branding? Find Your Superpower: How to Rebrand Yourself on LinkedIn is a simple, 1h on-demand video course that will help you identify your professional brand, write a brand statement from scratch, and create original content on LinkedIn.

- Have you heard my podcast? Subscribe to The Science of Work podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcast and don’t forget to leave me a five-star rating to help others find my podcast! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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