Take a Walk.

As I speak with more and more people who have started their own businesses or followed some creative path, there is almost always a reference to the negative voices they heard early on. No, I’m not talking about schizophrenia here. These voices are the ones that every person on the planet has struggled with at some point. It’s the voice of an overbearing parent, tactless acquaintance, crappy employer, unhappy partner, cruel stranger. A criticism that has stayed with you so long and made such an impression that, over time, it has morphed with your own views of yourself.

Despite their varying origins, these echoes of negativity all love to surface around the same time. It is in the exact moment we consider doing something new or out of the ordinary. All it takes is a whiff of fear or vulnerability. They smell blood and come running. “Oh, so you think you’re going to take that class, ask that boy out, apply for that job, [insert other act of bravery here], well, we’re just here to warn you that you’re going to look like an idiot. Don’t even try. You’ll just be disappointed. People will laugh at you.”

Just like each person has their own internal community of bullies, each person offers a unique way to deal with them, and while I won’t list all those methods here, I will highlight an interesting theme. The voices seem to belong to some really scared, unhealthy, out of shape personalities, and if you just hold out and push through the fear, you’ll inevitably come out on top. Negative people in your head, just like in real life, give up really easily. For me, combat comes in the form of a good walk. Like clockwork, when I reach the ten minute mark, the naysayers in my mind are all out of breath and sitting on the sidelines barely able to speak. So, if you find your brain getting a bit crowded as you try to take a brave step into the unknown, don’t be so quick to reach for that white flag. Instead, stand your ground a little longer and know that your enemy is nothing more than a memory.

Filed under Blackbird Diary |