Fear of Looking Stupid

I’ve always wanted to improve my writing skills. Blog writing is a good way to force myself into the habit of writing and improving along the way. But it took me about one whole year until I had the courage to start writing and publishing my stuff. I was just too conscious about how I would be perceived, but I finally did it! I published my first blog post a couple of months ago. Of course, it’s no Pulitzer-worthy content… it’s a topic that’s been heavily talked about before. But it’s a start, and it helped me get the ball rolling for future blog posts (like this one!).

One year is a hell of a long time to publish a single 500-word article. Why did it take me so long? I have come to realize it was simply because I was afraid to be ridiculed and look stupid. I desperately wanted to make the perfect blog post. However, I wish I had learned earlier that you can never make the perfect thing on a first try. I needed to start somewhere, and accept that start would be messy and rough. I also needed to accept that I might indeed look stupid. So what?

Fear of looking stupid is exactly what took me so long to publish my first blog post. Making stupid things is part of what makes us human and I need to embrace that. By that, I mean being kind to myself and recognizing that I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried something new! That itself is an achievement that is pride-worthy.

The key takeaway for me is to not care so much about what people might think of me. That itself is what has been keeping me from writing, as well as other stuff such as public speaking, singing, dancing, and just being me!

Striving for perfection is what’s been holding me back, but I’m starting to learn that it’s okay to have a messy start.