Kendal England
For better or worse, I never gave into the perfection curse.
I shipped well before I felt prepared to ship.
I screwed up. Believe you me, I erred quite a bit. A small percentage of mentally injured types did not hesitate to point out my errors. I initially became pissed off at their grievances. I eventually understood that people who secretly hate themselves make a big deal out of criticizing others. How could I hate someone who did a fine job hating themselves? I never could establish that connection unless I published blog posts. Being seen by the general public put this mental process into motion.
I gained invaluable experience.
Nothing exposes your blogging limiting beliefs like going live. Being seen by the general public – or a small sliver of ’em – triggers long buried fears you need to look past to reach the next stage of blogging growth.
I wanted to gain massive blogging exposure. But going live triggered my desire to limit blogging exposure. My split mind created chaos. My blogging strategy cut itself off at the knees. I grew by gaining a bit of exposure but shied away from growth opportunities because I feared being criticized. I also feared failing. I feared wasting my time too.
I felt stuck. One part of my mind wanted to grow. One part of my mind wished to remain idle or to sprint backwards. Frustration followed. Do you know the feeling of wanting to succeed but watching all of your efforts go to custard? Taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back sucks.
I never knew about these conflicting beliefs as I sat on the blogging sidelines.
How did I unearth these fears?
I went live.
I tapped the “publish” button.
You will never know what’s in your mind until they know about you. The dreaded general public stirs up mental gunk like no other entity. The gen pop knives into your unconscious mind with surgical precision.
People have a funny way of mirroring your fears back to you.
At the very least, being seen in a public setting unearths fear in your mind.
Most of these fears are unconscious. Until you go live, you never know about the fears.
What About the Blogging Masses?
Legions of bloggers fear tapping the “publish” button.
What if you make a mistake? What happens if you make a typo? What about your blogging reputation? What will people think?
Surrendering to these fears brings you down a blogging road you do not want to take. Expect that lonely, desolate road to be void of readers. You better believe the quiet blogging road offers no blogging profits either.
I cannot lie; you will save face. Nobody will criticize you. How can you make a typo if you never publish the post for human consumption? The upside: you avoid everything that you fear. The downside: zero readers and zero income.
At the end of the day, tap the “publish” button to see what fears kick around in your mind.
Publishing Blog Posts Made the Difference
Going live made the difference for me. I felt ashamed sometimes. I felt embarrassed other times. I felt terrified that critics would destroy my work at other times. Here and there, in rare moments, various fears danced around in my head the moment my blog became a public entity.
Smash it. Tap the publish button.
Bloggers fear publishing posts for a litany of reasons. You fear that nothing seems to be quite perfect; wait on the blogging sidelines to edit the post for the 10th time. Re-read the post again. Be with the errors. Make the post better. Make the post more acceptable. Make the post perfect.
But all perfectionist pining is fear. Bloggers fear being criticized. Bloggers fear wasting their time. Bloggers fear failure. Bloggers even fear succeeding; the subconscious mind creates all manner of fear to prevent your freedom, happiness and fulfillment.
The way to get over your fear of publishing blog posts is to tap the button, to publish blog posts and to get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. Do not fear publishing. Fear what happens if you do not publish blog posts.
What happens if you do not publish blog posts?
- nobody knows who you are
- nobody trusts you
- nobody sees you as a credible blogger
- no one buys your stuff
- no one hires you
Bloggers fear what happens if your blog posts go live. Do you fear what happens if your blog posts do not go live? Do you fear the consequences? Do you fear the repercussions of being a blogger who does not blog? Does being a blogger who does not blog sound like a profitable venture?
Fear what happens if you avoid publishing blog posts. Do not fear what happens if you publish blog posts routinely. Freedom awaits you. Success awaits you. Of course, some fears await you too but each is a tax to pay in order to become a successful blogger.
What Happens by Going Live?
Picture publishing a blog post. Critics arrive, publish negative comments and leave. Big deal. Who cares? A few unhappy human beings complained about your blog content. Why would you be bothered by unhappy humans complaining about something?
Face your fear of criticism. Feel your fear of criticism. Let go your fear of criticism. Experience greater blogging success and expanded freedom as a few unhappy, unclear folks complain about your success and freedom. Par for the course stuff, here.
Conclusion
Every pro blogger needs to get over the fear of publishing posts.
Publish!
Observe the fear of wasting your time. Feel it. Look past it. Publish.
Tap the button.
Overcome your fear of publishing blog posts by doing what you fear to do.
Use not blunt blogging force but a gentle game of doing mental gymnastics.
Be subtle.
Be prolific.
Be seen.
Succeed.
