Walk Away. Give Up. Your Not Good Enough. Just Quit. Who even cares. Another Failure.
The night that I am writing this you would not believe how many lies have come into my head about what I am doing and what I am trying to build. I am thinking about so many different reasons that what I am doing is not good enough, or normal enough. I am thinking about how what I am doing is just adding more noise to the internet. So many different thoughts. Some I am sure are kindled with reality and some with the truth. In some ways, I am adding a certain amount of noise to the internet. What if though...it was good noise?
There are so many different reasons that we talk ourselves out of leading or growing or challenging ourselves. I have often told myself that I would continue blogging and recording podcasts if just for a single person that it could be impacting. The reality of that statement? Well the more I have thought about it, the more I have realized that I am a person that is learning and growing from this. I am training, and growing!
Recently I have been spending my evenings and lunch breaks and other downtime working on a brand-new tool. It is SUPER EXCITING. I mean like I am STOKED TO THE MAX. Then tonight among the mirid of thoughts it started creeping in again.
You are not good enough
No one will subscribe
No one will pay attention
You might make someone's life worse
I mean these thoughts that came into my mind don't just come one time. They have been around the block a few times. What if I listened to them? I would be sitting on the couch eating my favorite chips (Cheddar Ruffles.....with Dr. Pepper too!!).
My thoughts are holding me captive, my thoughts have been holding me back. The thoughts about the potential judgment or the thoughts about the potential failure! UGH! Why do human minds suck right? I cannot be the only one that is wanting to begin something amazing.
I am sure every single person reading this has struggled with THEIR OWN MIND 🧠wanting to lock them out of their potential success.
The really scary thing? It's an easy sell.
Because the thing you are wanting to build? It is scary. It is hard. It requires GRIT and DETERMINATION. The thoughts that creep into our minds are EASY to buy into. Yeah sure...Netflix and Chill tonight. Or I will Iron this out on my next try.
We are CONSTANTLY wasting or loosing out on potential because we sit on the sidelines talking ourselves out of WHY we are not needed in the game.
The truth? No one is coming to put you in the game. No one is coming to hand you a software company. No one is coming to start your cooking channel on youtube. No one is coming for you. I waiting for over 20 years waiting for someone to come hand me something..because well..I am that good.
Now that? That is a MASSIVE LIE to choke down. Yet I so easily buy into the other lies of stopping and not putting in the work.
It is time to shed the negative thinking and start putting in more positivity.
I recently heard that brains are like a vacuum. You cannot just KICK something out, because it will return, when there is a space, a vacuum is formed and SOMETHING must go in its place.
This is why X-alcoholics become runners. You have to replace the bad with the good.
So time to kick your lies in the face with the two questions that might just change your life...You Ready? Because they changed my life.
What is the worst thing that can happen?
...What........what if... 🤔
The first question asked: "What is the worst thing that can happen?" came to me from a business consultant I was working with for a few months. I get so wrapped up in my fear of failure I would never take ANY KIND of action! The question was simple...
"What is the worst thing that can happen?" (WTWTCH). The answers that came after any situation surprised me. I was constantly caught off guard. Let us walk through some examples below
LIE: Your new software project will never see the light of day
I would have wasted a few months learning and building software no one uses
I would gain skills that enable me to tackle the next project with greater insight and speed
LIE: Your blog and podcast are adding too much noise on the internet
It turns out I am right, I am just adding noise on the internet...like everyone else.
I would get to practice writing blogs and recording podcasts and meeting cool people to interview
When you frame it out like this, then you can see the most negative outcomes of what you are working on. Often times in our own heads we get a WHOLE LOT more negative.
Now...Let us talk about QUESTION TWO :D
The Great "What If"
This one is simple, you frame it in a good light, and you ask yourself the question of "What If" and you answer them :)
What if I started that youtube cooking channel: I could actually tell my friends I did it.
What if I started that software company: I could put it on my resume and have a real chance of impacting my community.
What if I...
You get the idea. Compare the WORST OUTCOMES with the best WHAT IF outcomes. I think that much like myself I have realized tonight (I will probably have to remind myself again) that the worst outcome is better than me just sitting around in the evenings watching Netflix.
I believe that the creator of the Universe did not create you or me to just watch Netflix. I believe that He created us to impact our world, to care for our communities, and for our neighbors, and that does not happen when we believe our lies.
So the lies that float around in our head, if they are not going to go away...which they are not. Then we better put them to work, helping frame them to be our motivation towards success.
Now go forth & Begin to Begin. Stop letting your lies hold you back.
Take a Breathe. Conquor Your Day!