I’m scared to start this blog

I just need to come out and say it: I am scared to blog! After I graduated high school,  I knew what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go to school for Post Secondary but I was so scared of failing I convinced myself I wasn’t smart enough for university.  That year I applied for the Law Clerk program at a local college when in fact I wanted to apply to university and eventually get into law school.  I’ve always regretted that decision.

When I was convicted to start this blog, I came up with every reason in the book why I shouldn’t start a blog and not ever did I think about the reasons why I should start one. However, once I started to think positive, those reasons gave me the power to just go for it! I still get scared whenever I step out of my comfort zone and try something new so I know I did not conquer my fears.  However, I am confident I overcame fear because it does not cripple me anymore.  Now, I step out in boldness!

Below I discuss 5 reasons why I was so scared and how I overcame those fears.  These reasons may resonate with you if you are going back and forth with yourself about starting something new. Girl, just do it!

I’m scared of failing:

It sucks when something doesn’t work out. Period. It makes you feel vulnerable and dumb and I did not want to feel like that. I’m new to blogging therefore failing will only solidify that I’m not good enough. On my way to work I was listening to a podcast and the guest speaker said fear is a cornerstone of success because everything that we hunger for such as success and creativity are all on the side of vulnerability. Once I heard that podcast, I was able to take the bull by the horn and jump!  It empowered me to tell fear to get in the backseat because I am ready to drive.

Blogging is dead:

When I started doing research about blogging, the plethora of information available on the web was overwhelming.  It gave me a headache and it made me doubt myself even more.  On one hand people were saying that blogging is dead and no one should even waste their time to start a blog. On the other hand, others were saying blogging continues to evolve and it's awesome sauce! For me it boiled down to the fact that I had to know what I was passing up.  I didn’t want to live with regrets and shoulda, coulda, woulda.  If I was going to fail, I was going to fail while trying. Period.

I don’t know how to blog:

I felt defeated because blogging can be approached from so many different angles.  How do I know which angle is right for me?  What if my niche is actually not my niche? Or worst, how do I continue being creative with my posts?  So I asked myself, does everyone really have it all figured out? The answer is no.  Everyone winged it at some point in their life, even CEOs of fortune 500 companies. How do I know? Because other than death and taxes, nothing in life is guaranteed.

I still don’t know what I’m doing and I’m not ashamed to admit it.  I’m learning as I go along.   I actually believe learning is the most important part of this journey. A blog is not static, it’s fluid so if one angle doesn’t work out, I’ll just look at it from another angle.

Comparing myself to others:

Everyone is so successful with thousands of followers and their blogs are really popular.  I want that! I want to be like her! Here I am with 100 followers and the struggle is real because yesterday I’m sure it was 102. OMG!!! But you know what, she worked hard to get where she is.  She’s also been doing it for years.  Why I am comparing my beginnings to someone who is more established? Why am I being deterred by someone else’s success rather than using it as motivation? It makes no sense but actually it does make sense. We live in a time where everything has to happen right now; we want to skip the process and go right to the end. But you know what I figured out? The end result of anything is just the end; nothing is left to learn or discover. The journey is where the magic happens! I’m starting my journey with so much enthusiasm and I can’t wait for the many lessons I will learn along the way.

The naysayers:

Naysayers are the worst because they can really get into your head and make you question everything! They don’t understand what you’re doing so they try to make you doubt yourself. I found myself always trying to come up with this elaborate elevator pitch.  So I stopped. My elevator pitch is simple: I am starting a family blog and I am excited about everything! I also realized that my journey does not have to be understood by everyone. Some people will never get it and that’s ok, I believe in myself. And believe me, everything change when I stopped trying to explain myself to the naysayers.

So tell me, what do you want to do that has you really scared and why? And what do you plan to do about it?  Also leave a comment and let me know what you think of this post!