Of the things that can block your creativity and productivity like a dam on a wild river, I think the most powerful one might be the fear of being judged. Criticized. Trashed. Found lacking.
And I’ve only met a few lucky souls who are immune to this fear, either because they were born with incredible confidence or worked with their fear (or because they are asses who care not for anybody. But that’s another subject entirely).
But mostly, even the most successful writers and business people I know? Fear of judgement gnaws at them some of the time. And people who hide their writing and ideas because they think it’ll keep them safe? It gnaws at those souls even more.
So in today’s video that’s what I talk about: fear of judgement and criticism. How to get past it. Maybe not zoom all the way past it. But stop letting it rule you. Move forward despite the fear and hit publish anyway.
In the video I talk about:
- The best advice I ever heard about how to evaluate feedback (Thank you, Michael Bungay Stanier!)
- Where some of us get confused about being a light and being liked
- Two key questions to reflect on when you’re afraid of what others think
- What the Buddha has to do with it
- How to investigate if you’re becoming too rigid in your writing or teaching approach
- The truth about facts
- And why in the end working with your fear or past experiences of being judged is so important to your own happiness and growth
What tiny step can you take today with your writing or your creative work that will chip away at your fear of being seen? How can you stand up to it, say thank you for sharing, and then get on with putting your work out into the world in a way that feels good to you… but also maybe a little scary?
For me? I’m going to keep plugging away at my memoir and get ready to send it to a couple of readers. Gulp.
