Yesterday I realised for about the third time in two days I spoke to an accountant who had something they weren’t doing, but really wanted to, but they keep not doing it.
Like…
- recording video (at all, or consistently)
- sharing things that are a little more personal (emotions, mental health, fear, strong feelings about something others may disagree with)
- posting blog content that isn’t perfect (or anything that isn’t perfect – sketches, half-written content, ideas, website pages)
- sharing your SFD (shitty first draft / stormy first draft, thanks Brene Brown for the term) with others
…or hundreds of other things you’re avoiding doing, usually out of fear.
Fear you’ll be judged.
Fear people won’t agree with you.
Fear you’ll be seen to be weak.
Fear of being unprofessional.
Fear people will see you don’t have it all together. (Which brings us right back to being judged, full circle).
And in my work with accountants I love asking the “why” question to get to the heart, the root of why they’re REALLY not doing it.
Like we say we don’t do it because of fear, or we’ll be judged, or we feel like it’s not professional enough.
Here’s a really simple process to get to the heart of the why. The REAL why.
And it involves asking 5 whys, in order.
One of the oddly positive things to come out of this crisis is that right now, in this moment, the whole world is more open to anything you share that’s not perfect. Or is more human or more real or more scared.
The world is being less judgy (i mean it still happens sometimes, but even if it does, everyone else leaps on them and says hey don’t be so mean).
The world is being more agreeable (they realise there are different perspectives, and not everyone is moving through this crisis like they are).
The world realises we are all weak together. We are all susceptible to this virus and so many other things.
The world is being gloriously “unprofessional” together. People come onto zoom calls with no makeup or sitting in their back bedroom or holding a child or a dog or with kids running in and out of the room. We don’t care, because everyone from celebrities to well known artists to teachers are simply showing up as best they can.
So, if you’re still avoiding that Thing out of fear of some kind – and if you’ve gotten a little deeper today as to the real why, NOW is the time, more than ever, to start.
Because the world you’re a little fearful of, right now realises we none of us have it all together.
(These Notes are emailed out every Saturday. If you’d like to be on the list, sign up here.)