Above: Image by Gina Milicia
How many times have you thought about doing something, only to be talked out of it by your mind?
You take a great photo and want to share it with your community. Just as you are about to press “send” your mind interrupts and says:
“Ummm are you sure about that? You know if you post that photo, people are going to judge you.”
Which somehow leads to:
“If I post this photo, I will die alone and penniless in a ditch.”
FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real
Our mind is a master at telling us stories to scare the crap out of us.
It will seek out things to prove it is right. That’s why we tend to ignore the 100s of compliments we may receive and focus on the one or two negative comments.
Next time your inner critic tries to derail your progress with fear-based thinking, ask yourself one question:
- Is this true for me?
If I post this photo, will I die alone and penniless in a ditch?
If I make this call, will I die alone and penniless in a ditch?
If I approach this person and ask to photograph them, will I die alone and penniless in a ditch?
If the answer is no, I won’t die or harm anyone if I complete this next task, then you have every right to keep going.
2. Focus on small bite-size chunks.
When Dave got the call to build the Great Wall of China, he freaked out, but then he broke it down into a certain number of bricks per day and he got the job done.
- Give yourself a time frame.
I also love the 3-minute rule for getting stuff done that I hate doing. Just tell yourself that you will only invest 3 minutes to:
- clean your desk
- make cold calls
- write a blog
- sort your invoices
Starting is the hardest part, once you are doing the task, it’s easier to keep going. You don’t need to finish the job today, just start. You’ll be amazed how much you can achieve one bit at a time and if you jump in quickly your fear-based mind has less time to make stuff up to scare you.
