Currently, it’s 11:29 am, I am at work trying to write and I can’t seem to climb over this mountain-size writer’s block, So I decided to write about it. If my writer’s block was a person I would say right now it’s John Cena and I feel like a kid in a ring with him. I don’t have the physical strength to overpower him so instead, I use my wits. The first emotion I felt wasn’t fear, it was anxiousness, the feeling of not being able to complete the task followed by a big emptiness in my chest like that feeling you get, when you get the “I’m sorry I can’t make it” text from your date. So now John Cena makes his way towards me, his huge hands spread out wide to stop me from evading, chest as wide as the California bed I see in my dreams, and face as mean as a grinch. As he approached me, my legs froze and I could only move back. Now backed into a corner, the only thing I could do was fight back. Most times people let their fear put them in a chokehold and refuse to do anything about it. Driven in a corner by my writer’s block, I decided to write, the worst that can happen is that it wouldn’t be great but I would never find out if I don’t try.
Most times in life people give up without trying because of fear of rejection. Well, I am here to tell you that I have weaponized my fear as a spear to fend off procrastination and the dreadful thoughts of not trying at all. Weaponizing fear is psychological—change the angle of your views in your mind. Instead of being afraid that what you do won't meet people's expectations, why not be afraid of being unproductive? The fear of doing nothing should be greater than the fear of doing something and failing. The power of our thought process has been greatly underestimated. Having conquered fear, it has become the Maybach I ride to glory, I have conquered and tamed my beast, why not tame yours.
THE PAIR OF Ps.
In life avoid "the pair of Ps"—Perfection and Procrastination. Your first Try doesn't have to be perfect, it's okay to make mistakes most times failure ignites the right path ahead and shines a light on the path. As a gamer, I must mention that failure is key to the success of completing the game. In popular games like God of War and Uncharted, there are times where the game comes so fast that you fail, that failure is a glimpse into the future and then you fail again and you get another forecast eventually you find yourself reacting faster than the obstacles and you clear your hurdles. As a tailor, I loved the idea of being able to make my clothes and designs. At first, I was eager to learn how to, and eventually, I learned the basics, so I wanted to move on to the complex techniques like making a hoodie, a welt pocket, or placing a zipper. I would spend weeks watching youtube videos, and I kept telling myself I'm not ready, that I didn't understand the techniques fully. Frankly speaking, I failed the first time I tried each technique, but when I realized that each step of failure was like putting pieces of a jigsaw together till it formed a complete picture, I became eager to fail, can you imagine that?! Failure is the enzyme for growth and learning from the failure is the substrate. The substrate binds to the enzyme forming an enzyme-substrate complex, a series of reactions take place and the products are formed, the product here is growth. The most essential step is the substrate forming a complex with the enzyme; without it, no product is formed. Just like if we do not learn from our mistakes we will never get the final results of our efforts no matter how many times we fail.
In an attempt to slay my writer’s block I wrote down my mental process and in turn experienced self-reflection on my thought process. I hope this will be helpful to whoever gets stuck while trying to jump their hurdles.
In conclusion, Kelvin hart said:
"You don't start things and don't finish them, you don't quit, there's nothing that comes out of quitting besides knowing that you didn't finish- if you're gonna do it, do it and try and be the best. Not to be better than other people but be the best for you".
I can actually feel the words, ideas, skill set and truth in your right up Emmanuel. Like you said "The fear of doing nothing should be greater than the fear of doing something and failing". I'm happy to see you find strength in artificial weaknesses, and construct encouraging words to help others relate better. Cheers mate!
Wonderful write up. Insightful and thought provoking.