As a
writer, do some things look thrilling but scary to you? Perhaps you are contemplating putting your
idea for a book out there to publishers and literary agents, but the fear of
rejection is overwhelming the potential reward of being published. Maybe you are considering plunging into
self-publishing, but your concern that it could flop supersedes the potential
payoff of a book that gets embraced by readers.
Think of engaging in a book marketing or book publicity campaign, but
the fright of spending time and money overcomes the possible benefits such an activity could deliver?
In life
there are many times where we get understandably scared of something that looks
like fun but then find a way to forge ahead so we can realize the enjoyment
of having done it. And yet, many times we do get derailed and
hold back. We end up not taking that
extra step to transition from point A to B.
Why do
we fall short of the finish line of our quest?
· We
let the negative potential takeover the positive.
· We
only worry of “not accomplishing” instead of obsessing over how it’ll feel “to
accomplish” it.
· Whispers
from those who failed to go where you want to go creep in and become the only
sound you hear.
· You
start to diminish what you’re trying to do and downplay it to the point you
render it meaningless.
· You
forget that you’ve overcome greater obstacles in the past.
My son
knows about overcoming fear in the pursuit of a goal.
While on
vacation in Key West this winter, my 10-year-old son looked around and with an
adventurous spirit too big to fail – or see danger – he wanted to do everything
that he saw a sign for – scooters, skydiving, motorboat, jet ski. And as soon as he’d cross something off his
list, like snorkeling, he was ready for the next thing, not fully grasping that
he just did something for the first time in his life. Next up: parasailing.
I was 31
when I first parasailed along the coast of a Ft. Lauderdale beach. I hadn’t done it since, though it was a lot
of fun. Now my son was asking to go and
I was happy to join him for his debut in the air. All excited to go, he started to get nervous
once on the boat.
He
looked at the parachute and remarked: “It looks like it’s made out of a garbage
bag.” I concurred.
When the
two teenage girls went first, he got antsy and said “This is crazy.”
As he
put on the harness he asked if I was scared and I said “Yes, but it looks like
fun. We’ll be fine.”
We all
need a dad to tell us whatever we are pursuing is worth doing, that we can do
it despite the potential downside. We all
need to pursue our parasail.
When it
was our turn we listened to the boat captains' instructions, which were pretty
simple: “Hold on!”
We are
seated on a harness that clamps on to something that holds us to the garbage
bag-like parachute. The boat picks up
some speed and a bungee-looking cord attached to a machine on the boat starts
to let some slack go and suddenly we are lifting up into the air, the way I
imagine one has an out-of-body experience.
We kept
rising until maybe 25-30 feet and then there was a pause. They wanted us to wave to the camera that was
held and pointed by one of the workers.
They of course easily sold us a $40 DVD of photos and video to capture
the moment. My son and I were too
frightened to let go to wave.
We
quickly, but seemingly gently, scaled higher, eventually climbing at least a
few hundred feet into the air. It seemed
peaceful and quiet. It was nice we had
each other, not only to comfort one another, but to share in such an
exhilarating moment.
As
things below us seemed smaller, the immensity of the ocean and sky grew. We had a true birds-eye view o the
world. I took a second to pause with
full awareness that I was somewhere extraordinary. It was worth the risk and the feel of fear.
DON’T MISS: ALL NEW RESOURCE OF THE YEAR
2015 Book PR & Marketing Toolkit: All New
Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and
ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer. You can follow him on Twitter
@theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more
important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2015
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