The more often I produce my work to the world, the more confident I feel. The more confident I feel, the easier it gets to take the risk. I trust that all will be well. The first time I wrote a blog post, it took 3 hours, revision after revision, proof after proof. After I did it 5-10 times, I could write something and ship it in 15 minutes.
Humans fear the unknown. We face the unknown anytime we reveal ourselves or our creations to the world. Our insecurities float to the surface. Our confidence sinks. We focus on the “What if”s” … “What if it fails?” “What if I look stupid? “What if I look bad?”
When we expose ourselves to an unknown, we get to know it. Confidence is developed by facing things we don’t know. We get to know the unknown and get to know how capable we are in the face of new experiences.
Facing unknowns is like an inoculation against fear. The more unknowns we face, the more confident we become in our ability to face them.
What’s that unknown that you’ve been avoiding? Showing up at that networking group, writing the first page of your book, making that big sales call, asking for that promotion you’ve earned, talking to that girl you like but are afraid to ask out, taking action to create the business you thought about for years …
You can live in fear. Or you can live in confidence. You choose. What will you get to know today?
Until you face the unknown, you’ll never know …
P.S. – This took me forever to write today. I don’t love it. The important thing is that I shipped it. Producing tomorrow will be that much easier… 🙂
