Seeing Past The Excuses
Ever had an excuse so brilliant that you had to listen to it? An excuse that seemed to speak so much truth that it was impossible to ignore? I have.
My Favorite Excuses to be Wowed By:
1. You don't really have time for that.
2. If it's not perfect the first time, you should wait.
3. What kind of value does that even have in the world?
4. But he/she/they did it better than I ever could, so why try?
Let's Dissect This a Bit:
1. You don't really have time for that. Yeah, that could take like 30 minutes to 1 hour, but you have some emails to write so why not pop in a season of Friends and answer emails. You can turn off the season whenever you finish the emails and go do something else. The reality is that you will have answered those emails during the first episode and will still be watching when it's time to put in the second DVD. You had time.
2. If it's not perfect the first time, you should wait. Where is the standard of perfection here? Perfect for who? Is your college professor going to look over this work? Will there ever be a perfect time, place, situation or what for you to complete this? If I wait forever, will it ever get done? Probably not.
3. What kind of value does that even have in the world? With so many idea people, storytellers, film makers, creators, bloggers, leaders, etc. etc. who am I to try to step into any of these roles? What can I contribute when others have contributed so much already? What area of expertise do I really have in the matter? I'm just a kid straight out of college still trying to figure out the world around me.
4. But he/she/they did it better than I ever could, so why try? I follow some tremendous bloggers. I follow designers who I could only dream of designing something that great. I follow four filmmakers who made award winning movies while on summer vacation during college. I follow photographers who travel the world and have I am surrounded by people whose lives seem to be so much more, so much deeper, so much more impactful than mine. Maybe those people should do this, not me.
You know what lives in these excuses and the questions that they back? Fear.
This Fear doesn't have to control you. You're the one that gets to decide if it does. For me, it's regarding my blog. I love to compare it to blogs when I know the stats in my mind aren't real. Maybe if I do this or that to make it better. In reality though, I just need to write. Writing takes more time than I always want to give it. I want my writing to be perfect and if I'm not feeling inspired, I just can't write. Writing could get me judged though. I judge my own writing against others who are more established and have written longer.
Why haven't I written in the past? I have accepted the excuses fear has given me.
It's time to write because I love writing. It's time to blog because I want to be a blogger. I want to punch my fear in the face and do the thing I love regardless of the excuses. That my friends is what I am going to do.
