Stuck on Saturday

As I write it is 6 o’clock in the morning, the sun has not yet kissed this side of the world good morning, and rain slowly drips off the side of the house the aged wooden deck behind me.

When I decided that I would blog every day for 31 days for blogtober, the usual fear crept in; Who would read it? Would ANYONE read it? What would I say? Could I write every day? Was that even possible? Very quickly I needed to change my perspective on every one of these questions.

I didn’t care if any one read it, the objective was to write.

I have some idea (about 15) of what to do this month — let the rest come as they may.

Turns out if you take your own advice and audit your day you can find an hour to write, every day.

I think this is what happens to most people who don’t start something, they create a list and that list looks well-researched and menacing, so in a world where fear is a currency, we stop there. No need to test the waters, try new things, or share with the outside world — the list of excuses already told you that this was going to fail.

You will read a lot on Medium, Linkedin, in self-help books, and the like about eliminating fear, this idea that it is a wart and all you need to do is dab acid on it or freeze and your productivity will skyrocket. However, fear is primal, hardwired into your brain, the part of the brain that you really don’t want to mess with because it can come in handy when there is real danger. So no, you cannot eliminate fear and nor should you.

What you can do is use it.

Seth Godin calls it “dancing with fear” and productive creators do it all the time. Anytime I start a new semester doubt and fear show up to tell me I am far too dumb to teach people, or that the kids won’t like me and if left alone those feelings can paralyze you to inaction.

Instead, use that nervous energy, that fear, to get up in the front of the class and teach anyway. To stand-up in front of ten people you don’t know and speak for ten minutes. Take a spot in that open mic night. Place your art in a show and if you are lucky someone will be gracious with feedback that might change that part of your life in a dramatic fashion.

We all have fear and we all have to figure out what to do with it, mine just woke me up at 6 am on a Saturday to tell me that I wasn’t going to be able to keep blogging for the entire month of October.

Have a great day.

-Eric