I quit writing for more than a decade. During that time I went and did something else. No matter how good I got at that something else, I always regretted not doing what I really wanted to be doing.
What caused me to quit can cause anyone to quit, even the most talented amongst us.
It was fear. Specifically, the fear that I wasn’t good enough.
The fear of not being good enough is real. In fact, you’re feeling it right now, and so am I.
Will people laugh at my work? Will they tear down my best efforts and tear me down in the process? Will they spot all of my mistakes and realize how much of an idiot I am?
But let me ask you this question:
Will you ever truly be good enough―good enough for yourself?
It’s unlikely.
And that’s why you’re remarkable.
Being remarkable is doing what you love to do, in spite of the doubts and fears that are trying so hard to hold you back.
Being remarkable is doing what you love to do, in spite of the doubts and fears that are trying so hard to hold you back. Click To TweetThey say that those who have done great things had great courage, and that’s true.
You can’t be courageous if you’re not afraid. Courage is facing your fear of doing something and doing it anyway.
Fear can cause us to quit doing what we love. When it succeeds we regret it because there will always be a longing within us, an absence of fulfillment. So, don’t quit.
Prevail instead. Because you can.
If you want to prevail over your fears you have to:
- Admit you have them
- Accept them
- Get down and serious
- Stay focused on the results you want
- Keep writing and keep moving forward
These steps take courage.
As long as you are alive fear of being good enough will be with you, but it doesn’t have to stop you from doing what you love and creating what matters to you.
Use fear to your advantage.
Think of it this way, the more fear you feel about something, the more doing that something means to you. Keep doing it. Focus even more on your writing.
Creating work that matters isn’t about taking the easy way. It’s about taking the hard way. It’s about not quitting and having no regrets, even if you fail to make the bestseller lists (this time or the next).
Because doing what we love isn’t about sales. It’s about living our calling and loving ourselves, and when fear tries to stop us, we look it in the eyes and say, “You won’t stop me, not today―not any day!”
And by doing this, we get dead serious and gain a laser-like focus and determination that cannot be created in any other way other than from facing our fears.
Call it the gift of fear. This is how you will prevail, by realizing fear is a gift and using it to do what you love to do, better, with more focus and determination than you could have ever mustered without it.
You are good enough! You will prevail. You’re a serious writer.
