Are you paralyzed with fear? That’s a good sign. Fear is good. Like self-doubt, fear is an indicator. Fear tells us what we have to do. Remember one rule of thumb: the more scared we are of a work or calling, the more sure we can be that we have to do it.
― Steven Pressfield
I’ve always been told to read the book, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, but I never brought myself to doing it yet. This quote above is right from that book and I heard it for the first time last night during an online workshop I attended by James Clear. James referenced to this quote when he was talking about starting his most recent blog.
James was scared to start. He feared what others would think of him, that his writing and thoughts would be weak or insignificant. James actually wrote quite of bit of his ideas for a full year before sharing any of them. His fear was holding him back, but it was also something else.
That fear he had was an indicator for him. It was a sign to pursue.
This isn’t just true for James and his story, it is true for many others as well. There are people everywhere and across the span of time that had great amounts of fear in their mind, but made the choice to pursue against it. They were certain it was what they were called to do.
I have a close friend, Brendan, that is on the verge of becoming a professional beer brewer. He has been working on his craft for a few years now and is gaining great recognition from well known breweries as well as the people that started them. Over and over again he hears from founders,
You just gotta do it man. Seriously.
They all had a ton of fear swelling up inside of them before starting their own breweries, but it was that choice to just do it that changed them for the better.
I know Brendan is completely capable of it too. He lives and breathes brewing. If you ever walked into his apartment, you would immediately see bottles in the sink getting washed bags and boxes of grain, hops and other brewing supplies. You might even see a cask barrel or two fermenting an phenomenal porter. He is scared as hell to start, but when I know when he makes the decision to do it, he will do it better than anyone I know.
If there is something you are afraid to start in your life, maybe it’s time for you to safely calculate the risk and just do it already.
You just gotta do it man.
Seriously.
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