Procrastination - Part 2

Procrastination, Part Two: Meet The Fear

In my last blog, I wrote about a great quote I heard about procrastination: Procrastination isn’t about laziness, it’s about fear.

And when we switch our thinking from thinking we’re lazy to realizing we’re fearful, instead of loathing ourselves, we can have compassion for ourselves.

But what is this fear? And why is it so paralyzing that we’re willing to put off what we so want to achieve until later, until tomorrow, or maybe even forever?

The answer I most often hear from clients – musicians, actors, writers, almost everyone in any industry – is fear of being awful.

Not fear of failing – failing is something they could imagine handling – failing takes the pressure off – failing is like riding a bike and then falling off. Falling off gives you the chance to get back up. Failing gives you the chance to start over, switch gears, it gives you the chance to say, “Hey, I failed, but at least I tried, Now I’m trying something new.” There’s something heroic in that.

But being awful? Being just good enough to stay in the game, but not good enough to really succeed, to really shine.

That seems to be what’s really scary.

I get that.

This is a really big, juicy topic.

So I’m going to stop now and let you think about that. Ask yourself:

Am I procrastinating because I’m afraid of being awful?

What does that mean to you? What insight to yourself and your creativity does that question shine a light on?

I’d love to hear about it.

How do we cure the “I’m afraid of being awful” blues?

That’s coming soon! xo