Do something scary (and live your life!) Episode 5

January 31, 2024

Welcome to the Life and Path podcast. When was the last time that you did something that was scary, that kind of scary? That is something that you want to do, that it's worth it. That kind of scary one is the last time that you set up a challenge for yourself and you said, I'm going to do this. Today is the day. Did you meet that challenge? Did you come up to the challenge, get really close and then back away? Did you find some reason, some perfectly good reason that you shouldn't do it? Or did you cross over that threshold and do it? We're going to be talking today about crossing over that threshold and doing it and what is on the other side of it. And something scary that I did today coming up to that threshold of scary, that place where you're like, I could do it, I could do it. I'm not going to do it. Like, how many times have you come up to that threshold if you've passed it? What do you do when you pass it? Is there something else where you're coming up to the threshold and you're not passing it? What do we do when we get to that point where we're like, I could do it? What are the feelings that come up? Sometimes it's this unreasonable, like terror. Like, if I, if I post that, if I record that video of myself playing music, if I record that video of myself or social media I have been wanting to do, if I say that thing I've been wanting to say it's going to cost me right. Your body and your mind are like, No, no, no. Tomorrow, tomorrow. And it's so hard. It's so hard. Today I went past that threshold. I have been waiting to go live on TikTok. You can follow me at Life and Path. And when I did it, it was not a big deal. Like no one cared. I was full of adrenaline. I was shaking. I was completely red. And it's so funny because I've posted like, hundreds of videos. But the thought of going live was like, What's going to happen? What's going to be on the other side of that? Are people going to be mean? Is there something there? Am I going to be seen like there's a lot of things that your brain walks through in an effort to try to keep you safe? And so I decided, okay, I really know how to do this painting thing. Like I used to sell paintings full time, shipped them all over the world. I am getting back into it and doing it, and it's feeling really good. And I'm like, I'm going to I'm going to share that. I'm going to do some painting and I'm going to share my paintings and let's just do it. Let's let's talk about mental health. Let's let's share paintings. And so after a whole bunch of planning, I decided like, Yep, we're going live. We're going to do this. And I get everything set up and I'm looking at that go live button. And it's terrifying to press that button. I'm like, I don't know, I couldn't explain to you what I was feeling. So you know what I did? I, I was going to walk upstairs and just kind of walk away from it. And then I saw the cat and she was inquisitive. She just kind of wondering what I was doing. And I'm like, I'm going to I'm going to pick that cat up and I'm going to hold the cat while I press go live. So I picked up the cat. I picked up the cat and I pressed go live. And I just I was there with the cat. Well, it was doing its thing. So if you ever wanting to go live it, it starts like building an audience for you. And it takes like a minute, like 30 seconds to a minute. And so you're not sure what you should be doing. But in that moment I'm like, Well, hold my cat. Here we go. And so after about a minute, you kind of see like people start to join and like, your worst fear is like, people are going to be awful to you, right? Like, and how do you handle that? Because it's just it goes with that. It's part of the part of the game. That's what happens. But it just was like, okay, people are joining. These people are joining. People are leaving. I put on the cat. I pick up my paintbrush. Like, I start awkwardly going through it. And then after a while, I'm just like, This is fine. Like, people are coming and going, watching the live, not watching the live. I'm forgetting what I wanted to say. I'm talking about the painting more than I'm talking about the mix of mental health and painting that I want to talk about more than the inspirational things that I wanted to talk about. But I did it and I was like, live for 12 minutes and it was great. And then I stopped and I just kind of took a breath and I, you know, put an end to it. After the last follower dropped off and no one joined back on for a while. And that was kind of how it went. It kind of went up. There was a bunch of people that kind of showed it to them. They're like, Man, not for me. And then it went down to zero, which is fine. So I stopped it. I took a breath and I was like, I want to do it again. And so I ended up doing like another live at home while I was painting. And I tried it again. And then I went on a walk and I did two more. And so why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because on the other side of that cliff, of that cringe mountain, of the icky feeling, the other side of the bravery is what if it all works out is something more creative. I never thought getting through my first live would make me go. I want to do more. Like I didn't even it didn't even occur to me. I was just like, I really want to go to like, go live. I want to try this. And now it's like, okay, that's not that's not scary. That's it. It was fine. You know, when you see a kid going on the playground, like if you have kids, they go up and that that big slide and they don't want to go and they don't want to go. And then when they finally do it, they're like, I want to go again. I want to do it to get nicer again. And it was like that. And and I don't know if it's something that I want to keep on doing, but it was fun. It was just effortless sharing because it's not you're not cutting, you're not getting soundbites like you are with videos. It's just a different form of content. And so if there is something where you are just holding on tight and you are not wanting to do it and you have a fear around it, I, I would ask you to dig into that fear. For me, it was a fear of being seen. And I think that fear is in all of us, right. Like it could be dangerous if we get seen and people perceive us in a way that is negative and it's not real danger, but it's like ancestral danger that's built into our psyche. But it's not that bad. And what's worse is all the time I wasted not going live all the time, I wasted not trying it out all the time I wasted. And the same thing with posting on social media. I was so afraid to do my first video and I was. I was prepared and I wanted to do it for probably two years. I saw something in it I wanted to share and I wanted to do it. I'm like, We always do. I was like, Well, I need just a little bit more information. And so during the pandemic, I took Erica, Hannah's filming on iPhones. They're filming for phones webinar, and it was so good. It was it was really helpful. And I didn't I learned a few things technically, but there was a lot that I realized I already knew. But the biggest thing I got from it, and I will tell you, if you are if you want to take a lesson in something, if you want to take a course, if you want to take whatever the biggest thing is, moving that block for you, right? So you can't look at it and be like, what's the value here for me? Like, look at it like, is this going to move the block for me? And so back to the story, I, I went through it and at the end she said, your assignment, your only assignment, is to post a video today record and post a video today. And I took that so seriously. I was so scared to do it and I had so much fun making it. And I, I, like I could barely breathe when I was posting it and I did it. I did it that day. I didn't let that day go by. And so if there's something for you where you're like, Man, I really want to do this. Like, do it today. Let me be the person daring you to do it. Do a small thing. Don't make it a big deal. No one's watching like your friends aren't watching. No one is watching. And if they are, it's like, did you like it? What do you think about it? Your friends are not going to be talking crap about the thing you did to try something like That's not a friend, Try something. And even if people that you love in their own way have this fear built up inside of them and they they don't want you to feel foolish. They don't want you to be foolish because they know how much they could hurt you. That's not for you. Like that's them. And you don't have to be scared of that. And you're going to be around the people that you're around that aren't doing that thing right now that you want to do. And it's going to seem completely foreign to them because you know what? The people that they see doing it are doing it differently, are doing it better. All of these things right, they have the right lighting, they have better sound, they have all of these things that you don't have. But the people that they're watching have been doing it for years. They started out with these cringe videos. They started out just sharing and they got better. Don't listen to that. That's absolutely their thing and it is not yours. Post that video. Right. That blog post. Apply for that job. Whatever it is that you've been wanting to do. Take a small step today. Do it today. Do it. When you listen to this podcast, I don't care if you're listening to this podcast at 1130 at night, do something small. You can post a video just with text over it. You don't even have to record yourself, but do do something. Whatever it is, do something small. I'm excited to see what you make. That's all for this episode of the Life Impact podcast. Go do the thing today. You got this.

Episode Transcript

Did you meet that challenge? Did you come up to the challenge, get really close and then back away? Did you find some reason, some perfectly good reason that you shouldn't do it? Or did you cross over that threshold and do it? We're going to be talking today about crossing over that threshold and doing it and what is on the other side of it.

And something scary that I did today coming up to that threshold of scary, that place where you're like, I could do it, I could do it. I'm not going to do it. Like, how many times have you come up to that threshold if you've passed it? What do you do when you pass it? Is there something else where you're coming up to the threshold and you're not passing it?

What do we do when we get to that point where we're like, I could do it? What are the feelings that come up? Sometimes it's this unreasonable, like terror. Like, if I, if I post that, if I record that video of myself playing music, if I record that video of myself or social media I have been wanting to do, if I say that thing I've been wanting to say it's going to cost me right.

Your body and your mind are like, No, no, no. Tomorrow, tomorrow. And it's so hard. It's so hard. Today I went past that threshold. I have been waiting to go live on TikTok. You can follow me at Life and Path. And when I did it, it was not a big deal. Like no one cared. I was full of adrenaline.

I was shaking. I was completely red. And it's so funny because I've posted like, hundreds of videos. But the thought of going live was like, What's going to happen? What's going to be on the other side of that? Are people going to be mean? Is there something there? Am I going to be seen like there's a lot of things that your brain walks through in an effort to try to keep you safe?

And so I decided, okay, I really know how to do this painting thing. Like I used to sell paintings full time, shipped them all over the world. I am getting back into it and doing it, and it's feeling really good. And I'm like, I'm going to I'm going to share that. I'm going to do some painting and I'm going to share my paintings and let's just do it.

Let's let's talk about mental health. Let's let's share paintings. And so after a whole bunch of planning, I decided like, Yep, we're going live. We're going to do this. And I get everything set up and I'm looking at that go live button. And it's terrifying to press that button. I'm like, I don't know, I couldn't explain to you what I was feeling.

So you know what I did? I, I was going to walk upstairs and just kind of walk away from it. And then I saw the cat and she was inquisitive. She just kind of wondering what I was doing. And I'm like, I'm going to I'm going to pick that cat up and I'm going to hold the cat while I press go live.

So I picked up the cat. I picked up the cat and I pressed go live. And I just I was there with the cat. Well, it was doing its thing. So if you ever wanting to go live it, it starts like building an audience for you. And it takes like a minute, like 30 seconds to a minute. And so you're not sure what you should be doing.

But in that moment I'm like, Well, hold my cat. Here we go. And so after about a minute, you kind of see like people start to join and like, your worst fear is like, people are going to be awful to you, right? Like, and how do you handle that? Because it's just it goes with that. It's part of the part of the game.

That's what happens. But it just was like, okay, people are joining. These people are joining. People are leaving. I put on the cat. I pick up my paintbrush. Like, I start awkwardly going through it. And then after a while, I'm just like, This is fine. Like, people are coming and going, watching the live, not watching the live. I'm forgetting what I wanted to say.

I'm talking about the painting more than I'm talking about the mix of mental health and painting that I want to talk about more than the inspirational things that I wanted to talk about. But I did it and I was like, live for 12 minutes and it was great. And then I stopped and I just kind of took a breath and I, you know, put an end to it.

After the last follower dropped off and no one joined back on for a while. And that was kind of how it went. It kind of went up. There was a bunch of people that kind of showed it to them. They're like, Man, not for me. And then it went down to zero, which is fine. So I stopped it.

I took a breath and I was like, I want to do it again. And so I ended up doing like another live at home while I was painting. And I tried it again. And then I went on a walk and I did two more. And so why am I telling you this? I'm telling you this because on the other side of that cliff, of that cringe mountain, of the icky feeling, the other side of the bravery is what if it all works out is something more creative.

I never thought getting through my first live would make me go. I want to do more. Like I didn't even it didn't even occur to me. I was just like, I really want to go to like, go live. I want to try this. And now it's like, okay, that's not that's not scary. That's it. It was fine. You know, when you see a kid going on the playground, like if you have kids, they go up and that that big slide and they don't want to go and they don't want to go.

And then when they finally do it, they're like, I want to go again. I want to do it to get nicer again. And it was like that. And and I don't know if it's something that I want to keep on doing, but it was fun. It was just effortless sharing because it's not you're not cutting, you're not getting soundbites like you are with videos.

It's just a different form of content. And so if there is something where you are just holding on tight and you are not wanting to do it and you have a fear around it, I, I would ask you to dig into that fear. For me, it was a fear of being seen. And I think that fear is in all of us, right.

Like it could be dangerous if we get seen and people perceive us in a way that is negative and it's not real danger, but it's like ancestral danger that's built into our psyche. But it's not that bad. And what's worse is all the time I wasted not going live all the time, I wasted not trying it out all the time I wasted.

And the same thing with posting on social media. I was so afraid to do my first video and I was. I was prepared and I wanted to do it for probably two years. I saw something in it I wanted to share and I wanted to do it. I'm like, We always do. I was like, Well, I need just a little bit more information.

And so during the pandemic, I took Erica, Hannah's filming on iPhones. They're filming for phones webinar, and it was so good. It was it was really helpful. And I didn't I learned a few things technically, but there was a lot that I realized I already knew. But the biggest thing I got from it, and I will tell you, if you are if you want to take a lesson in something, if you want to take a course, if you want to take whatever the biggest thing is, moving that block for you, right?

So you can't look at it and be like, what's the value here for me? Like, look at it like, is this going to move the block for me? And so back to the story, I, I went through it and at the end she said, your assignment, your only assignment, is to post a video today record and post a video today.

And I took that so seriously. I was so scared to do it and I had so much fun making it. And I, I, like I could barely breathe when I was posting it and I did it. I did it that day. I didn't let that day go by. And so if there's something for you where you're like, Man, I really want to do this.

Like, do it today. Let me be the person daring you to do it. Do a small thing. Don't make it a big deal. No one's watching like your friends aren't watching. No one is watching. And if they are, it's like, did you like it? What do you think about it? Your friends are not going to be talking crap about the thing you did to try something like That's not a friend, Try something.

And even if people that you love in their own way have this fear built up inside of them and they they don't want you to feel foolish. They don't want you to be foolish because they know how much they could hurt you. That's not for you. Like that's them. And you don't have to be scared of that. And you're going to be around the people that you're around that aren't doing that thing right now that you want to do.

And it's going to seem completely foreign to them because you know what? The people that they see doing it are doing it differently, are doing it better. All of these things right, they have the right lighting, they have better sound, they have all of these things that you don't have. But the people that they're watching have been doing it for years.

They started out with these cringe videos. They started out just sharing and they got better. Don't listen to that. That's absolutely their thing and it is not yours. Post that video. Right. That blog post. Apply for that job. Whatever it is that you've been wanting to do. Take a small step today. Do it today. Do it. When you listen to this podcast, I don't care if you're listening to this podcast at 1130 at night, do something small.

You can post a video just with text over it. You don't even have to record yourself, but do do something. Whatever it is, do something small. I'm excited to see what you make. That's all for this episode of the Life Impact podcast. Go do the thing today. You got this.

Do something scary (and live your life!) Episode 5

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