You all know that I’m a master procrastinator. Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow, right?
I’ll tell you why: fear. It’s another one of those emotions that I could write a book about. When I fear something, I feel paralysed. I freeze on the spot and feel like I can’t move. And I keep looking for excuses NOT to move. Fear and procrastination are the ugly step sisters of progression and achievement. And they never go away.
I often write about my fears in my bullet journal.
[Side note: if you haven’t tried bullet journalling, do yourself a favour and Google it after you’ve read this. It changed my outlook and my habits immensely.]
I try to break down my fears into individual elements that I can tackle one at a time. I start with what I’m scared of. Right now, I’m gearing up to launch a motivational exercise app by 1 September. And. I’m. Terrified. Why? Let’s break it down:
* Apps are for confident people and I’m not one of them
* Apps are for famous people and I’m not one of them
* Apps are for young, good-looking people and I’m not one of them
* Apps are for people who know what they’re doing all the time and I’m not one of them
In journalling about these doubts, I have to remind myself about an acronym I once saw for fear:
F = False
E = Emotions
A = Appearing
R = Real
If I’m really honest with myself, these fears are ridiculous. But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel any less paralysed!
At the end of the day, fear is a choice and we choose to sabotage ourselves every day. We don’t push ourselves to reach our goal weight because we fear the commitment and discipline. We don’t do that thing we’ve always wanted to do – like my app – because we fear that we’re not good enough or won’t fit into the box that society tries to shove us into.
If we have the ability to choose fear, we also have the ability to overcome it. It doesn’t matter if your friends, family or society believe you can achieve something. You have to choose to believe it yourself. You have to choose to play this game of life and understand that you’ll have successes and failures along the way but that you have to choose to keep going. If you fail, choose a different approach. Learn from the experience but choose the experience every time. Choose the lessons. Choose life. Choose you.
I’ve been waking up to the below message every morning this week and it’s reminding me to learn from life’s lessons. To at least try, to push past the fear and see what happens. If nothing else, I’ll have the experience.
What fear will you conquer this week?
