What are you withholding because you’re afraid it’s not good enough? What are you refusing to give? What are you refusing to start? What are you refusing to take action on? What are you holding back until it’s more…done. More ready. More finished. More certain. More sure. More qualified. More likeable. More loveable. More figured-out. More timely. More professional. More beautiful. More perfect.
Here’s the thing. At a certain point, withholding your gifts, your love, your joy, your voice, your opinion, your knowledge, your intuitions, your art, your work, your affection, your vulnerability, your realness, your perspective, your truth…withholding any of this eventually becomes selfish.
Who are you to say what’s good enough? You’re not an expert in what other people need or want. So what the fuck are you so afraid of? Anticipating that it’s not going to land well? Or that it could be better? At a certain point, no amount of revisions can protect you from the risk that what you have to share won’t be received well by everyone. But that’s okay. You are not for everyone. But you ARE for a lot of people. So don’t hold out on them. They need you.
Yes. People need what you have. And by waiting for whatever you have to be refined down to some pristine polished piece of perfection, you’re letting your ego and your fear of not-enough outweigh the gift of sharing.
There is a cost to your silence. As my cousin Cady Macon brilliantly put it, “the true cost of stifling our voices is unknown. Lost potential can’t be quantified.” BOOM.
When you deem yourself to be the judge of what’s good enough to print, publish or push play on, more than likely that manuscript will gather dust on your desk, the canvas will go unpainted, the idea will be voiceless, that person will never know how they lit you up. UNFULFILLED UNQUANTIFIABLE POTENTIAL. For you. For everyone. There is an on-flow butterfly effect of your failure to launch. Who will never know how deeply they mattered? Who will never be inspired by your voice or your action? Who misses out? We all do.
So stop secreting it away. Stop hiding. Stop stagnating. Stop sitting on it. Stop containing. Remember that done is better than perfect. Remember that perfect never comes. Mount up. Give it away. Give it up. Let it out. Shout it out. Share it. Sing it. Spread it. Send it. Paint it. Write it. Publish it. Launch it. GIVE IT.
Go’on now. Get busy. You got thangs to share, say and make. We’re waiting for you…
