<p>If we have a new idea, blog, online content or <strong>anything we have created, there is an inherent fear of putting it out into the world for everyone else to see</strong>. It is an inevitable fear that most of us face.</p>
<p>If creation is not happening, work is being avoided, innovation not getting worked on, there is a good chance we are living in that fear.</p>

Putting Your Work Out There

<p><em>We are uncertain about ourselves due to the world being dismissive, uncertain and judgemental. We think we risk being labelled as stupid, rejected by others or getting embarrassed.</em></p>
<p><strong>The real risk</strong> of this fear is the possibility that<strong> our creativity and abilities will have no impact on this world because we chose to keep it to ourselves.</strong></p>

The Core Of Our Fear

<p>We must realize that we are avoiding putting our creativity out in the open. <strong>Creativity isn’t just composing music or painting. It can be coaching and mentoring, collaborating with others in a meeting, researching, writing emails.</strong> Anything that is not administrative or busy work can be a creative task.</p>
<p>For maximum impact, we have to face our fear of avoidance and make it a habit to create and put out our work in the open for all to see, every day if possible.</p>

Face Your Fear Of Avoidance

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<h2>The Fear of Putting Our Work Out There</h2>
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<h4>By <a href="http://leobabauta.com">Leo Babauta</a></h4>
<p>One of the most common fears of anyone who is creating something, whether it’s online content or art or a new business or startup … is the fear of putting our work out there in the world.</p>
<p>It’s a fear that has us procrastinating, researching endlessly, checking social media, answering emails, buying books on the topic, listening to podcasts and watching Youtube videos, cleaning our kitchen, deciding the laptop needs a good cleaning … endlessly!</p>
<p>None of these things are wrong or bad — they’re so human! But it’s a fear we have to face at some point if we ever want to make an impact on the world.</p>
<p>I’d love to share how I work with this fear — I’ve been doing it for decades now!</p>
<p>The brief summary:</p>
<ol><li>I have a litmus test: if I’m not creating or putting the creation out into the world, there’s a good chance I’m procrastinating. (There are exceptions of course.)</li><li>If I’m avoiding, then I create space to face the fear and create and put it out there.</li><li>Then I face it. And play with it. And learn to relish it!</li></ol>
<p>I’ll dive more into this below …</p>
<h3>The Core of Our Fear</h3>
<p>What’s so scary about putting our work out into the world? Well, we don’t know how it will be received by other people — it’s full of uncertainty, and we don’t like that uncertainty.</p>
<p>They might judge us, dismiss it as having no value, think we’re stupid. We’ll feel embarrassed or rejected. This uncertainty is too much to bear for many people.</p>
<p>And yet, as understandable as that is, this fear will shut down the possibility of having an impact on the world. Let’s let our hearts be broken by that shut down possibility.</p>
<p>And let’s connect to the impact we’d like to make — would we like to move people’s hearts, change people’s lives, open their eyes to something new? How delicious!</p>
<h3>Facing the Avoidance</h3>
<p>In order to face our fear and what we’re avoiding … we have to know we’re avoiding. So the first thing I do is ask myself, “Am I creating right now, or putting my work out into the world?” If not, there’s a decent chance I’m avoiding out of fear.</p>
<p>There are seeming exceptions of course: collaborating with others in team meetings (I would argue that’s creating), coaching (that’s both creating and putting my work out there), research (but keep it to a bare minimum, most people procrastinate by researching more than is needed). We have to do admin work and emails too — but if I haven’t created today, then I know I let my day get filled with administrative busywork instead of focusing on the thing that matters.</p>
<p>So once we see we’re avoiding creating and putting it out there … it helps to create structure to face the fear.</p>
<p>If you’re avoiding creating: set up a daily session to feel the fear and then create. Not research, but actually create. Do it on a video call with others, if that helps, or get an accountability group.</p>
<p>If you’re creating but avoiding putting it out there: commit to doing it in small steps. For example, send it to a group of people you trust. When that gets easy, send it to a larger group. Then put it into other communities.</p>
<p>Work on the muscle of creating, and putting it out there regularly. Every day.</p>
<p>Join me in my <a href="https://fearless.zenhabits.net/">Fearless Training Program</a> if that’s the kind of training you’d like to do. Let’s make an impact together.</p>
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<p>One of the most common fears of anyone who is creating something, whether it’s online content or art or a new business or startup … is the fear of putting our work out there in the world. </p>

<p>It’s a fear that has us procrastinating, researching endlessly, checking social media, answering emails, buying books on the topic, listening to podcasts and watching Youtube videos, cleaning our kitchen, deciding the laptop needs a good cleaning … endlessly! </p>

<p>None of these things are wrong or bad — they’re so human! But it’s a fear we have to face at some point if we ever want to make an impact on the world. </p>

<p>I’d love to share how I work with this fear — I’ve been doing it for decades now! </p>

<ol><li>I have a litmus test: if I’m not creating or putting the creation out into the world, there’s a good chance I’m procrastinating. (There are exceptions of course.) </li><li>If I’m avoiding, then I create space to face the fear and create and put it out there. </li><li>Then I face it. And play with it. And learn to relish it! </li> </ol>

<p>I’ll dive more into this below … </p>

<p>What’s so scary about putting our work out into the world? Well, we don’t know how it will be received by other people — it’s full of uncertainty, and we don’t like that uncertainty. </p>

<p>They might judge us, dismiss it as having no value, think we’re stupid. We’ll feel embarrassed or rejected. This uncertainty is too much to bear for many people. </p>

<p>And yet, as understandable as that is, this fear will shut down the possibility of having an impact on the world. Let’s let our hearts be broken by that shut down possibility. </p>

<p>And let’s connect to the impact we’d like to make — would we like to move people’s hearts, change people’s lives, open their eyes to something new? How delicious! </p>

<p>In order to face our fear and what we’re avoiding … we have to know we’re avoiding. So the first thing I do is ask myself, “Am I creating right now, or putting my work out into the world?” If not, there’s a decent chance I’m avoiding out of fear. </p>

<p>There are seeming exceptions of course: collaborating with others in team meetings (I would argue that’s creating), coaching (that’s both creating and putting my work out there), research (but keep it to a bare minimum, most people procrastinate by researching more than is needed). We have to do admin work and emails too — but if I haven’t created today, then I know I let my day get filled with administrative busywork instead of focusing on the thing that matters. </p>

<p>So once we see we’re avoiding creating and putting it out there … it helps to create structure to face the fear. </p>

<p>If you’re avoiding creating: set up a daily session to feel the fear and then create. Not research, but actually create. Do it on a video call with others, if that helps, or get an accountability group. </p>

<p>If you’re creating but avoiding putting it out there: commit to doing it in small steps. For example, send it to a group of people you trust. When that gets easy, send it to a larger group. Then put it into other communities. </p>

<p>Work on the muscle of creating, and putting it out there regularly. Every day. </p>

<p>Join me in my <a href="https://fearless.zenhabits.net/">Fearless Training Program </a>if that’s the kind of training you’d like to do. Let’s make an impact together. </p>

<p><span>Previous post: </span><br><a href="https://zenhabits.net/feel-joy/">Allowing Ourselves to Feel Joy During the Day </a> </p>

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The Fear of Putting Our Work Out There - zen habits

Putting Your Work Out There

The Core Of Our Fear

Face Your Fear Of Avoidance

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