Welcome to my very first blog (post)! This is an almost 6 month-long goal of mine to start this thing. It’s scary to share my thoughts here on the web for everyone to read and judge, but that’s the whole point! Around new year’s earlier this year, I was in a rut. I found myself confused about what I wanted to do next in my career and almost crippled by fear of change but, more aptly put, by fear of the unknown. It bled into other aspects of my life too.
I realized I had all of these little personal projects I had wanted to try for a long time, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be good at it or I wouldn’t understand it well enough to succeed, so I kept avoiding them. The fear had to go.
So…post #1 will entail listing out my goals and fears and I plan to cross them off my list one by one. I have found it’s really REALLY important to express fears either out loud or in writing because once they are out there in the world, I realize a) it doesn’t sound so scary after all or b) it almost seems silly to be concerned over such a minor thing and/or c) it feels WAY more doable now that I have laid it all out there. With that, each time I post, I’ll explain the WHY behind my fear. It’s so important.
Start a blogQuit my job/change careersBuild a bike from the frame, up (including wheel building!)- Teach yoga freelance
Sing while playing the ukulele at an open mic and in general in front of people. eeek!! (I can’t wait to knock this one out)(done! woohoo!)- Stick with hand balancing class to finally nail a 30 second handstand
- In general, once the mystery is gone with anything new that I want to try, then I quit and never let myself get much better than decent at things. I’m using hand balancing as an example of what I need to commit to.
- …and the list will keep growing and growing.
What are some of your fears, and how have you conquered them? I want to hear your stories! Even if you haven’t yet conquered your fear, maybe sharing it will be the first step towards breaking through.
Hey Daniela, one of my worst fears was jumping out of an aircraft with a static line parachute in Airborne school. Already deathly afraid of falling badly (it’s not the heights that get me but the likely demise if things go wrong) I knew I had to confront my fear. In airborne school they divide it into Ground, Tower and Jump week with a few extra days for admin stuff. It often seemed like the closer I came to jumping out of the 34 foot towers and eventually aircraft the more my fear stressed me. As I forced myself up the tower the first time terrified (even though there really wasn’t much to be terrified of, as you are simply jumping out of a large zip line) as with my future jumps each time I came out of the Tower things became easier. I’ve yet to be completely at ease but for now I can exit an aircraft without having this wave of fear come crashing over me. I have found fear to be an incredible motivator as well pushing me to not settle and reach for the stars.
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That’s awesome Dave! Fear is really great in that respect. It’s a defense mechanism that we can use to our advantage if we let it…something I’m learning more and more everyday. It’s liberating! I wish I could jump out of those aircrafts with you. Sky diving was the ultimate thrill for me.
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