Oh sure you are.
Ever noticed that it’s always the scary stuff (or the embarassing or painful stuff) that we’re too busy to do? I’m pretty sure I have never, ever been too busy to eat an ice-cream. But sending an email that could make me money? I can hold off on that sucker for weeks.
I have and still do struggle with this. For a long time I got away with the “I’m too busy” excuse, because I am busy! As I mentioned yesterday in the post about the tango of fear and awesomeness, I’ve been building this website while working a 40-hour-a-week day job. Since I tend to have psychotic episodes when denied of sleep, that leaves about 5 hours in the day for me to work if I ignore my loved ones a bit.
It is very, very easy for me to fill up that time with pleasant tasks (writing, commenting, tweeting, studying) and never approach the scary stuff: building new products and services, contacting people about guest posts, redesigning the website to highlight the consulting services… yikes!
Enter irony
The work we produce while avoiding fear might be good, but it won’t be great. You have to push through fear to produce great work; great work that produces purpose, immortality and serious cash rewards. All reasons I started the website. Wait…
I’m scared of never achieving greatness!
AND
I’m scared of doing the work that leads to greatness!
One of these two had to go. Guess which fear I ignored, and which one I encouraged? I built myself a Feartopia around the fear that I would never achieve anything lastingly great. In it, I would putter away in pleasant but meaningless jobs until I retired, always faintly sad and wistful, thinking, “There should be more than this,” spending my hours on idle amusement, and never really remembering what I did last month because they were all like each other, all nice and pleasant, all wasted…
*shudder*
Every time I catch myself avoiding the scary stuff, I drag out that water-colour pleasant nightmare and remind myself that there are always alternatives. It’s very effective.
Your five-minute mission, should you choose to accept it…
Think about the tasks you’ve been putting off for more than a week. Are there good reasons you’re delaying, or are you trying to avoid them – possibly in the hope that Judgement Day comes first?
Take the first step toward getting those actions done. If you need to send an email, find the address. If you want to make a product, spend 5 minutes thinking of names.
Once you’re done, come tell me about it in the comments!
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