I Suck At This. I Do It Anyway.
The past month of my life have been one of the most beautiful. I have been scared, nervous and on the verge of breaking down. I have felt deeply appreciated, inspired, missed and loved. I have tried to document and share with you all the journey of the past few weeks and I have cherished every single comment you have replied with.
However, today I want to dispel a myth. A misconstrued notion that I am good at doing this. In the past month or so, I have been told several times that I was able to do these things only because I am good at it.
Myth #1 : I am good at moving to new places.
Reality: Nope. I hate moving and leaving people behind.
Myth #2: I am good at meeting new people and networking.
Reality: Believe me I get nervous before every single meeting. I much rather hide under the blanket with a book than go out and meet new people.
Myth #3: I am very comfortable trying new things.
Reality: Not true by any stretch of imagination. I am the same guy who ate the same exact dinner (baked salmon with sautéed bacon and kale ) every day for over 6 months last year, because I liked it and it was easy to make.
Myth #4: The above myths are not necessary.
Reality: They absolutely are!
The only profound thing I can tell you today is that I have accepted the fact that I will not be good at above mentioned things. However, I do them anyway. Couple of years back, I had a realization that I was allowed to suck at things that were essential to succeed in life. To get your name out there, to be heard, to be followed; to be deserving of an audience you have to be an audience yourself first. I learned that I needed to meet more people even if I sucked at it. I realized that I had to expose myself to more ‘peak experiences’ in life to be more confident.
These things that you are not so good at never get easier. I wish I could tell you that it has become very easy for me to be outgoing now as a result of repeating it a hundred times. No, it never gets better. What gets better is you.
There’s only one chance at life. There is not restart button. My Facebook and Twitter feeds might only show one side of the story, but trust me, I am not good at it. I am just doing it anyway.
