I’m staring at the stadium clock, and its digital digits are frozen just before the end of the third quarter. It seems like this particular game will never end, and a lot is riding on the outcome.
This vague sports-related analogy captures where I’m at right now with my current fiction project—a novel of slightly less than 70,000 words with four more chapters (about 20,000 more words) to go. I’ve been pounding away at the same incomplete Chapter 12 for weeks, and for whatever reason am unable—or, perhaps, unwilling—to put it to bed. I’m still very excited about the storyline, but am struggling to execute the writing task itself.
Sometimes we’re close to completing a journey, and we psych ourselves out—at least temporarily. The fear of success can be even greater than the fear of failure. This can apply to the job that we truly want; the relationship we’re seeking; or the healthy lifestyle we crave. We can almost see the “promised land,” but inertia, real or imagined obstacles and other dynamics prevent us from actually entering.
I only have one anecdote for my particular circumstance, and it is to simply GET IT DONE. Yours truly needs to stay put in front of his laptop and let his brain flow through his fingers. And I will get it done…I just don’t feel like it at the moment. Keeping it real, friends; we all have our moments.
Now, consider your circumstance—a situation where the fear of success might be greater than the fear of failure, because success requires hard work, getting out of your comfort zone and change. What steps can you take today to move forward, and to fully engage the fourth quarter of the game with victory in sight? What will get you so excited about potential success that fear fades away?
Note: My other current book project, a non-fiction work called Assess, Collaborate, Execute: ACE Your Way Through Life, is in its second draft. Artwork is complete. I’m in the tedious editing stage…and more than ready for it to be over. Look for lots of tweets and updates soon!
