Is there something that you would love to do but you keep putting off out of fear?

Fear that you won’t be good enough.

Fear that it will all go horribly wrong.

Fear that you will FAIL.

I’ve been experiencing this for the past few months as I’ve contemplated starting a podcast.

I love podcasts. I love the intimacy they create and the way listening to a good podcast can feel like listening to a friend.

There are things I’d love to share with people – personal experiences from my life and the lessons they’ve taught me in how to be free – that I think would work really well in this medium but…

… I kept putting it off out of fear.

Fear that I wouldn’t understand the technical side – I had no clue how to record and edit audio files.

Fear that I’d mess up and stumble over my words. Fear that some terrible calamity might happen mid-recording – like my son bursting into the room and farting.

But then something magical happened that gave me the kick up the butt I needed – and formed the basis of my very first episode.

Once my butt had been kicked I sprang into action. I watched some YouTube tutorials on how to record and edit – and even mix(!) audio files. I planned my first podcast outline. I hit record, and off I riffed.

I made a classic cock-up midway through but I carried on anyway and I didn’t edit it out – not just because I haven’t learned how to edit things out yet(!) but because I wanted to make a point that perfection is a completely unnatural way to be. Life is messy and imperfect and embracing that is a Very Good Thing.

I created an intro for my podcast. I added music to the intro. I EVEN LEARNED HOW TO FADE THE MUSIC OUT at the end of the intro! All things I didn’t have a clue how to do before. All things that I’d told myself were impossible and yet I learned how to do in half a day!

If you can relate to any of this I hope it inspires you to take action towards your dream.

Who cares if what you create is a little rough around the edges, at least you will have done something. And who knows what magic that something could lead to.

As Goethe once said: ‘Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it; Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.’

The first episode of my podcast FREE SPIRIT went live this week. 

As I said, it contains a classic blooper midway through and I ‘um’ and ‘ah’ a bit and say ‘soooooo’ loads but what the hell, at least I’ve done it. And now that I’ve started I can learn as I go.

If you’re interested in finding out more about what gave me the kick up the butt I needed to overcome my fear and take action please feel free to give it a listen. 

I really hope it helps you too.