Do Something Friday -- fear.less

I just read the most interesting interview with author Steven Pressfield.  I want you all to read it!  He discusses fear and how limiting it can be.  He talks about small step and how to start something and how sometimes you just need to push through. 

Even though the focus of his interview is his own writing process and experiences, the interview is worth the read if you have an open mind about your own inner process and how fear plays into your successes and failures -- from weight management to raising kids to making a career change.  I can't recommend this interview enough!

The below is just an excerpt to get you thinking:


.....You know, I think there are two things, and we’ll do the easy one first. There’s a term in mountain climbing called “Exposure.” A climber is exposed when there’s a big drop underneath him, and he’s not exposed when there’s a ledge underneath him.

So you could be five feet from the summit of Mount Everest, but if there’s a ledge under you, you’re not exposed. But if you’re 20 feet off the ground and there’s a straight drop underneath you, then you’re exposed - and being exposed is when you really need to be a great mountain climber. So, I think one of the fears is just falling off the side of the mountain, which is a pretty valid fear because it’s no fun to crash and burn. But I don’t think that’s the big fear. The big fear is more of succeeding than of failing. I’m not sure why that’s so terrifying, but it is.

It’s like that famous cartoon from the New Yorker where a perplexed-looking person is standing in front of two closed doors. One door says “Heaven” and the other says “Books about heaven.” It’s so much easier to read the books about heaven because you know, if I open that door and go to heaven, holy cow. I think we’re all terrified of that, to be what we’re meant to be. Because then all the responsibility lays on us and we can’t hide behind anything. Certainly the people that I admire are those who’ve picked the door that says Heaven and are not afraid, or if they are afraid, they’ve overcome that fear and aren’t afraid to be everything they can be and not hold back anything....