I was driving to work this morning listening to a great track by Sufjan Stevens… reminiscing about my “musical” days in college. I played guitar for a long time and have just recently put it aside for other hobbies and activities. I want you to know that I have never… ever… ever talked about this with anyone. This is the “I’m Being Completely Open With My Blog Readers Morning with Kyle” show.
Get Ready.
During the years of guitar playing… I had always wanted to perform in front of a group of people and honestly… I don’t think I knew exactly what that entailed… maybe it was playing my own songs or playing a popular song from John Mayer… who knows? The deep down desire was to play in front of a group of people… my acoustic guitar and a mic.
It never happened.
I can associate most of my hesitation with fear. It is a hard thing to admit… that you were actually afraid of doing something and it kept you from actually realizing some sort of… success or maybe pride? My fear of being laughed at and individuals not enjoying my music kept me from walking up and just doing something… crossing it off my list.
Is anyone connecting with me on this?
Fear is an extremely powerful thing. It can paralyze you in business and in life… destroying the dreams that you were building over the years of work and preparation.
The problem with fear is that… sometimes… it keeps ordinary people from doing extraordinary things. And let’s be honest… do you really want to admit you didn’t do something because of fear? Steve Jobs would laugh in your face.
I decided to screw fear and take a stab at doing what I wanted… without hesitation. There may come a time when I step on a stage and perform for the.. two people in the room. Until then, I am going to move forward with my head down. I would rather deal with the ramifications of my actions than never know the outcome because of hesitation.
Kyle I love, love, love this post.
I think fear, rejection, failure stops a lot of people from achieving their goals. In HS I never tried out for a sports team, not because I wasn't good. I was honestly really good, but I was too scared of not making the team. This was only one circumstance out of many that I let fear stop me.
It wasn't until college that I finally stepped out of my comfort zone and realized that if I let fear stop me, I'll never know if I can actually achieve my goals/dreams etc.
Thanks for the reminder to keep on trying, even if we fall down every now and then.
Great post Kyle. It's always a good reminder to not be afraid of failure or ridicule. I do have to ask though, what Sufjan song was it?
I will be sending this one to Harry immediately
Cool post, Kyle. Nice change of pace. I agree that fear can be your own worst enemy. I think that your fear of performing in front of people is not uncommon. Ironically enough, lately you have become quite the public speaker. I think in a way, while you are not performing an instrument, you are still overcoming that same fear.
Falling down is the beauty of it all.. in my opinion.
Thanks for the comment!
It was To Be Alone with You by Sufjan
I was thinking about that recently as well. Maybe it is my way of making up for lost time?
"The problem with fear is that… sometimes… it keeps ordinary people from doing extraordinary things." I really have to agree with that…there are things in my life that sometimes I ask myself "why I didn't do this and that" when I know I can…it's because of fear…it's hard to get rid off but when you realized you fear and accept that you learn how to battle with it and slowly get out of your comfort zone.