Overcoming our fears

I set myself a goal last year to begin writing. I learned during my doctorate programme that I LOVE writing and so I wanted to push myself to write about a variety of different topics. I wanted to write in my own style and share my ideas more widely. I had spent so long gathering data and analysing data and had (in my opinion) learned some interesting things from the interviews I had carried out with managers.

I tried to remind myself that the only way I will learn and improve is to share my writing however it is only now that I have felt brave enough to start sharing my writing.

Why is this? For me the fear of the judgement of others has been overwhelming.

I have made excuses and procrastinated to avoid making my work more public.

I feared that people would say “how basic your conclusions are we knew this all along”! I feared judgements that my work does not contribute to moving the profession forward in any way. I feared being seen as old fashioned, not relevant to today’s organisations and on and on…

So many fears about sharing my work. And yet I am trying to overcome these. With this in mind, I am starting to share my thoughts and ideas and am trying not to worry about what people think. I remind myself that if even one person gets some benefit from what I am sharing I have helped in some way.

I am not sure if this resonates with you in any way, but I think that so many of us put off doing things which we would enjoy or want to do because we are afraid of how they will be judged by others and yet what difference does it make if others don’t like our work. I try to remind myself that it doesn’t matter, and I can learn from taking risks…