This week’s post is for my artist friend, Daniel. He has a problem that I can identify with all too well.
Daniel has a project that has been on his mind for a while—a year? More? He’s envisioning a sculpture that involves mirrors, glass, maybe metal and lights. He didn’t tell me all the details, but I could tell he has the full vision in his mind. The concept is fully developed, yet he has not been able to start.
I was right there with him on every detail—not of the sculpture, but of the reasons why it’s ONLY still in his mind. All of his reasons resonated all too clearly.
One concrete reason (eh, excuse?) was “I don’t feel legitimate working in a new medium until I’ve studied it, learned it, mastered it.” (in other words: I’m not entitled to claim this) Oh yes, most of us have sung this song many times! That’s a blog post for another day.
The rest of our conversation revolved around FEAR, fear of risk, fear of failure, fear of success. Seriously, as rational adults—why are we paralyzed by fear of any kind? It’s crazy! It really is. But it’s also common, pretty much UNIVERSAL.
I call it Emotional Hesitation, and it’s something we do when we venture outside of our comfort zones. This uniquely human trait is most likely governed by our brain’s prefrontal cortex, which has the job of keeping us safe.
In the end, some people are better at overcoming that emotional hesitation (i.e., Steve Jobs), and the rest of us grapple with it in varying degrees all the time. It is not rational or logical. We might have to be vicious, and do something crazy, like JUST START. Sometimes that’s the only course of action: close your eyes and jump!
So the message today is JUST START something. Take a step. Actually begin. The only way to the other side is through.
I’d love for you to tell us what you are going to start. We all want to celebrate you together!
PS: I hope you’ll click to Daniel’s website and see the amazing things this guy does! Seriously, you’ll wonder: how can he struggle with fear of anything? (I suppose it’s because he’s human, like the rest of us!)
