I would but…

I don’t have the time.

I don’t have the right tools.

I don’t know the right people.

I don’t have any ideas.

I’m not talented enough.

I don’t have the budget.

I don’t know enough.

I’m scared.

We all have a long list of excuses we call on to keep us from putting ourselves on the hook and creating something that matters.

More often than not, however, those excuses are simply a place to hide.

A way for us to avoid the real reason we’re holding back from sharing our insight, perspective, and voice with the world.

Fear.

We all have that too.

To get past the fear requires us to see it for what it is.

To get there, we need to first eliminate our excuses, one by one, crossing them off our list until we get to the root of our discomfort.

I’m scared…

Of what my friends will think.

Of what my family will think.

Of what my Facebook friends from high school will think.

Of losing steam.

Of falling flat.

Of failing.

And of seeing it through.

Of the attention.

Of the scrutiny.

Of the feedback.

Of the criticism.

Or worse, the ambivalence.

We can’t eliminate the fear.

But we can look it in the face and choose to create in spite of it.

It’s the only way anyone has ever created something that changed things, in ways big or small.

And if you seek to do the same, it’s the only path to get there.

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