What's stopping you?
What's stopping you from writing that book? You've got the ideas inside of you, and with the ease with which we can (link to book) self-publish our own work these days we can control the whole operation from the writing, to the publishing, to the marketing of our book. No need to hire an agent and try to find a publisher that will take a chance on us. So let me ask you again....what's stopping you?
What's stopping you from releasing a song or an album? Again, with the technology available to us today we can record a song or an album, release it, and promote it all on our own. There is no need for a record label, marketing department, managers, agents, or anything else. Hell, there's software out there that can even play the instruments for you if you don't play an instrument. As long as you have the song ideas inside of you then you can record a song. What's stopping you?
What's stopping you from starting a podcast? Buy a microphone, download free software like Audacity, get an account with a podcast hosting service or even just publish on to YouTube or your own website. If you have an idea for a podcast you can be up and running with a published episode in no time. You don't need a fancy studio with fancy recording equipment. You don't need famous guests to start. You just need to start. So what's stopping you?
I'll tell you what is stopping you. It's fear. Fear of people not liking what you are doing. Fear of people hating your book, ridiculing your music, laughing at your podcast. Fear is stopping you. That is a common defence mechanism that we use to protect ourselves. Rather than face the possibility of being mocked, put down, laughed at, or criticized, we would rather stand still. It's easier to do nothing and not be laughed at than it is to stick our neck out and try something.
The thing with this theory is that it doesn't allow us to get any better. It doesn't teach us how to deal with criticism and/or failure. We are still in our insulated little bubble where the sticks and stones that people are throwing at each other can't hurt us. We are protected in a sterile environment that doesn't allow us to get hurt. The problem is that it doesn't allow us to grow either.
If we complete our project we will learn how to make the next one even better. We will learn that criticism doesn't really hurt us if we don't let it. If we fall flat then we learn that failing at something isn't the worst thing that can happen to us. We learn that we can deal with it with things go wrong and that the world doesn't crumble to pieces because of it.
The bravest thing that we can do is to take that first step. Write that first line, sing that first note, record that first podcast episode. After we take that first step everything else becomes a little easier as time goes on. Eventually that which we were so afraid to begin becomes a routine and becomes just something that we do as a matter of fact. So I ask you again...
What's stopping you?
Thank you to Pixabay for the images.
I am Scott. I write poetry and lyrics and sometimes I write about life. Please upvote and follow. Find out more at my website or connect with me on Facebook.