Dare to be bold by Matt Cheuvront
Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Next to Resistance, rational thought is the artist or entrepreneurs worst enemy. Bad things happen when we employ rational thought, because rational thought comes from the ego. Instead, we want to work from the Self, that is, from instinct and intuition, from the unconscious.
A child has no trouble believing the unbelievable, nor does the genius or the madman. Its only you and I, with our big brains and our tiny hearts, who doubt and overthink and hesitate.” – Steven Pressfield, Do the Work
The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.
Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.
The only thing left is to, you know, actually go make it happen. What are you waiting for?
I considered creating a video. Really, I couldn’t think of any bolder expression to make — I’m about the mousiest person you’d meet face-to-face. I kept trying to find the ideal location to film my video, but obstacles kept presenting themselves: a neighbor arriving home across the street; a neighborhood girl riding her bike down the street; my kids catching me sneaking to the side of the house and mistaking me for their cousin; a bumble bee smacking into the side of my head. And so I took the hint that I needed to write my response in order to actually make it happen. Such is life.
Let me repeat myself for the who-knows-how-many-eth time. I want to be an English consultant. I want the backyard, the couch, and my new favorite cafe (of which I’ve decided to is my not-so-best kept secret) to be my offices. I want to change lives by helping others write better. I’ve been so terrified of pursuing this dream because too many people have fooled me into believing that working a job outside the home is the only way to make a living without living in a cardboard box on the street corner. It’s that whole “starving artist” complex — but I’m not so much an artist. My writing may be an expression of art to me, but I’d rather focus on helping others. There are differences between “there,” “their,” and “they’re,” and not enough people seem to understand this. Just the other day, my son came home from school with a printed recipe book — and apparently one of his teachers forgot to spell check the title page before printing. It’s a “receipe” book. Really? And this is where I start to remember that people need me just as much as I need them.
As far as overcoming this obstacle — this fear — I feel confident that I’ve moved beyond it. Right now it’s a matter of creating content, offering my services, and marketing. I don’t exactly need anything else to propel my business forward. I simply need courage, confidence, and creativity.
