Do you feel fear around sharing your work with the world?
Maybe you’re wanting to have your jewelry in a local shop, but you’re just too afraid to take it there and show them. Or you want to debut a new collection to the world, but it’s a little bit outside of what you normally do, and you’re afraid to start promoting it.
When I first started my freelance design business, I was full of self-doubt. I would go to post something on social media and immediately start to question everything…
Is it good enough?
Will people like it?
Are people going to think I’m lame?
Etc. etc…
All of the fears manifested as not knowing what to post, agonizing over captions and feeling like it had to be 100% perfect.
The result? I would work on something for a long time and in the end, I wouldn’t post it at all.
Not only was that a huge waste of time, but more importantly it was a giant drain on my self-confidence. Every time I decided something wasn’t good enough I was actually hard wiring my brain to believe I wasn’t good enough. In addition to the obvious emotional distress, it kept me stuck and losing faith that I would ever see the success I dreamed of.
If you want the success you’re dreaming of, you need to stop denying your fears and start examining them.
Use this 2-step process every time you start to feel afraid of putting your work (or yourself) out into the world:
1. Write Down All The Reasons
Get out a sheet of paper, and at the top write, “I shouldn’t share my work because…”.
Now do a heart dump of everything little and big that comes up for you. This should include all of the most extreme, horrible things that could happen (this ones are often the key). Everything from, “My family and friends will disown me,” to, “My daughter will laugh about me to her friends”.
Things may come out that you never knew were hiding in there. That’s BIG. This awareness is the first, and most important step.
Fear is what stops us from reaching our dreams.
2. Make a Choice
The next piece is deciding if you want these fears to rule your world, or not.
Everything is a choice. Do you want to let this fear guide your choices and keep you stuck? Or do you want to share, grow and open up to massive success? It’s completely up to you.
It sounds simple, and I know it’s not the easiest thing to do, but…
If you do not consciously say “no” to your fear and “yes” to the things that will bring you success, then you will stay exactly where you are.
As you start to share things, the fear will still be there (and that’s normal!). The more you put your work out there, even when it’s uncomfortable, the easier it will become.
Repeated action is what rewires your brain.
Lastly, don’t believe that you’ll be cured after doing this exercise one time. With every stage of business you will feel new fears creep in. (This is also normal and a good sign you’re growing!) Revisit this 2-step process every time you feel afraid to share your work. Before long it’ll be second nature and those likes, comments and meaningful connections will be pouring in.
Did this speak to you? Do you have fears around sharing your work with the world? I’d love to hear in the comments!
