By Jennifer Blanchard
This morning, I attended my company’s annual “Fall Campaign” kickoff event. The event was created more than 21 years ago as an attempt to motivate the sales team to make a big effort for the remainder of the year.
The company’s management team gave a report on where the company is currently with sales, marketing and PR efforts, and then each gave a short, focused motivational speech to get everyone pumped up.
When the company’s President of Sales got on stage, however, he took a whole different approach.
Instead of pumping everyone up right away, he instead told everyone that it’s OK to be afraid.
“It’s OK to be afraid,” he said. “It’s OK to be uncertain. The first step to overcoming your fears is admitting that you have them.”
Every writer has fears. Every writer has doubts, uncertainties. But, in the end, the only writers who are successful are the ones who learned how to push through the fears.
Saying aloud–to yourself, to someone else–that you’re afraid is the only way for you to ever overcome it.
So shout from the rooftops (or just call a good friend) and let people know that you’re afraid. Once you admit it, you’ll be free.
My company’s President of Sales then went on to say that after you admit your fears (especially to yourself), you need to act.
Act on what you want: Write your novel, write your screenplay, submit your short story to a contest. Do it already!
You can either let your fears hold you back, or you can use them to fuel you forward. The choice is yours.
So…what’s it gonna be?
And if you read this post and thought, “I’m not afraid of anything,” be sure to read the Procrastinating Writers series on The Things Procrastinators Fear.
About the Author: Jennifer Blanchard is founder of Procrastinating Writers. Be sure to follow her on Twitter.
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Until recently, I allowed my fear of REJECTION to stop me from writing. Literally almost made myself sick the first time I submitted a writing assignment to the first online workshop I took. A year later, I continue to wrestle with my fears and but am loving the creative process. It’s truly wonderful to share and learn from others. It’s also encouraging when you read that others share the same fears.