Why we don't do the work?
There are two types of people in this world:
1.) Those who do the work to solve a problem
2.) Those who receive the work as a gift and do nothing with it
The second type of person never gets past step #1. They never get past "try." They never get past "wanna." And they never get past "hope."
They are forever stuck in the mushy middle.
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There are two reasons we don't do the work that solves a problem.
Funny enough, "I don't have the skills" is not one of them.
The first reason we don't do the work is that we're afraid of failure.
Fear of failure can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If we're honest with ourselves, we're most likely afraid of looking like wannabe superheroes, fearful of not being accepted by our peers, afraid of what people will think about us, and so on.
After all, who wants to be seen as a loser?
But, failure is a tool for the wise, not the weak.
It's funny how the people who are always negative have the worst success rates.
Maybe it's because they never try, or perhaps it's because they sabotage their own success with fear, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
Whatever the case, I've noticed that the more successful ones are more comfortable with getting their wounds rubbed in salt.
Doesn't make them masters of success, but it does make them masters of enduring pain.
The second reason we don't do the work is that we're afraid of success.
We might not be born to it, but we've been brainwashed into not being afraid of success.
There has always been a cult of failure, a chorus of people who will encourage you to avoid whatever it is you're trying to do, who will paint the picture of the horrible consequences if you should succeed.
There has always been a different chorus, though, of people who will talk you down, who will encourage you to give up, who will tell you that you can't, that it's not worth the effort, that you won't get through.
Which crowd are you in?
When was the last time someone encouraged you to do something remarkable?
Here's a simple way to figure it out: What does it feel like when surrounded by people who are afraid of success, who refuse to let good ideas out of the box?
The loudly negative people all have one thing in common. They are afraid of success as well.
The minute the world shows up with more than they can handle, they back off and leave the field open for us to succeed.
On the other hand, quietly positive people are eager for success. They are hungry for more opportunities to serve.
The choice is simple: will you spend your time with people who ignore the crowd and push you to do your best work, or with those that prefer to hide?
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Here's the thing...
You don't need good reasons to be brave.
The path out of this trap is to stop looking for good reasons and just start doing.
Start with a practice group. Start with a commitment to someone who will watch you fail. Then start.
Sure, do the research and make sure you don't fall on the blade that cuts your pencils. Yes, measure your progress and adjust your practice accordingly.
But mainly, just start.
Even (especially) if you start small.
In a job, it means taking steps to get that first project under your belt.
In a business, it's taking those first steps to get the ball rolling on your first client, and so on.
Starting small is an excellent way to defeat the bad reasons for not doing the work. And also a perfect way to beat the fear of failure or the fear of success.