Why is it that when we want to accomplish something that we are passionate about, it gets pushed to the end of the list? Sure, we complete tasks at work and meet deadlines when the calendar says something is due, but when it comes to writing our manuscript, starting a blog, and recruiting people for our newsletter we fall short. Some of you might be tapping your nose right now thinking, “This is me to a ‘t’.” Others might be thinking, “That’s not me…I go for my dreams!” The rest of you are probably teetering your hand back and forth, falling somewhere in the middle.

As for me, I can write all day, but when the time had come to getting this very website started I not only wanted to hide in the corner, but I threw a blanket over my head and turned out the light. Fear. This four-letter word has kept me from moving toward my publishing dreams. Sometimes I’m so afraid of failing that the fear halts all progress.

As I said, I’m not afraid to write, I’m afraid of the technological piece that comes along with self-publishing. Using new software programs, starting a webpage, and learning the various platforms to upload my books are beyond frightening to me! Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t quitting when I asked my webpage designer to hold off on displaying my words to the world.

What was stopping me then? The question of “What will I do when everything goes haywire with my mailing list or the blog or the multitude of other technological problems that I am well-versed in?” I’m not exaggerating when I say that once I walk in the room sometimes the internet goes down. My solution: I use my one trick of restarting and when that doesn’t work, which is 99% of the time, I throw my hands up in troubleshooting failure.

So what am I to do, give up? Throw in the towel? Say, “Oh well, I have 30 story ideas playing in my brain at all times of the day and night, but they’ll have to wait because I’m too afraid of starting my webpage?” Absolutely not! After two months of visualizing my website, writing a newsletter, and researching content for blogs I finally asked myself: what would make this less intimidating? My answer: ensuring that I can get help when something goes awry (yes, I meant to type when, not if). How can I do that? By paying a little extra for the hosting fees and going through the company who set up my website, which happens to be a few miles from my house and whose owner lives a few doors down from me. Yes, this could work! When I landed on this solution my shoulders dropped a few inches and a breath of air escaped my mouth that had formed into a smile.

Have you ever been plagued with the fear of failing? If something is stopping you from inching towards your dreams, can you pinpoint what you are truly afraid of? In the scenario that you are shielding yourself from, can you picture it in an ideal way? If so, what are some steps you can take to move it from scary to ideal?