If you ever struggle with the fear of putting yourself or your work out there in the world, you’d be well-served to invest 22 minutes watching this video. It’s a keynote address from Dr. Brené Brown speaking to creative professional at a 99U conference.
In this video, she offers several gems of wisdom for folks like us, including my favorite Theodore Roosevelt quote about critics, courage and perseverance. If you don’t have 22 minutes to spare, here’s her message in a nutshell:
“If you’re going to show up and be seen, there is only one guarantee, and that is, you will get your ass kicked … That’s the only certainty you have. If you’re going to go in the arena and spend any time in there whatsoever, especially if you’ve committed to creating in your life, you will get your ass kicked …
“Yea, it’s so scary to show up. It feels dangerous to be seen. It’s terrifying. But it’s not as scary, dangerous or terrifying as getting to the end of our lives and thinking, what if I would’ve shown up? What would’ve been different?”