Fear

We all have our reasons for avoiding the difficult, slow, and meaningful work we should be doing. Here are a few of mine:

• Fear of lost time: This project will take a while–will it be worth the time I invest?

• Fear of judgment: This project feels incredibly personal to me–will other people think it’s stupid?

• Fear of failure: There’s a lot riding on this project–what happens if it doesn’t work out?

These fears visit me often. They make me second guess myself, my knowledge, and my ideas.

Everything from a deep understanding of my Why and the contribution I hope to make with my work, to the latest and greatest time management hacks and productivity boosters, can’t keep the fear away.

So I fight. Wrestling with the fear that comes from the projects I should be working on, and the self-induced anxiety of needing to show constant proof of my progress. Weighing the fear of sacrificing my best work to simply be busy, with the fear of lost time, judgment, and failure.

This is the part where an expert would have the answer. Well, I’m not an expert and I don’t know what will work for you.

What I do know is my most rewarding work has come when I’ve accepted my fear and moved forward despite it. That when I set aside the need to do everything, be everything, and constantly prove that I’m valuable, and instead move forward on the right things, I’m always rewarded, even when the thing I’m working on doesn’t work out.