💡 1 IDEA FROM ME
We all know what it is like to allow our fear of what “they” might think keep us from trying something new.
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Maybe you want to start a newsletter but think people will wonder why you think you have something to say.
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Maybe you want to start a new workout routine but think people will assume you won’t be able to do it
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Maybe you want to start creating online content around one of your hobbies but are worried people will think your content isn’t any good.
Here’s how to get past this unnecessary fear and do the thing: When pursuing something new, instead of thinking about “people” in general, think about specific, individual people.
When you start thinking of specific people you can then answer this question: are you really that concerned with what each individual person will think?
Do you really care if Kyle likes or dislikes your newsletter? Does it even matter if Lisa doesn’t believe you can do it?
You break the collective “they” down to what each individual person might think, the mythical collective of people that is holding you back begins to disappear.
And guess what? There probably are many individual people who will cheer you on. They want to read your newsletter. They want you to show them how you keep your house plants alive when theirs always die.
When trying something new, don’t think of people in general, think of individuals. Once you do, you’ll likely find yourself less concerned with what “people” think and more concerned with giving it a try.
💬 1 HELPFUL QUOTE
I. David Brooks on how to be humble:
“Some people think humility is thinking lowly of yourself. Some people think it’s not thinking about yourself. But, to me, the best definition of humility is radical self-awareness from a distance, seeing themselves from a distance and saying, what’s my problem?”
📖 1 BRIEF BOOK REVIEW
Raising Worry-Free Girls by Sissy Goff
A helpful read if you have a daughter(s). There are some helpful and practical ways to create resilience in our anxious age, and this book gives some strategies on how to do that.
Some takeaways: Kids need to do hard things and things that are uncomfortable for them in order to grow. Trying to be too comforting actually isn’t a good thing if you want to create less worry in your daughter. And we make life easy or try to rescue them from facing hard things, we make them worry more, not less.
It’s hard to rate this book given its rather niche topic (so I won’t), but it did well following through on its title. For me, it wasn’t an amazing book, but it was still worth reading.
🤔 1 QUESTION TO LEAVE YOU WITH
What’s the worst that could happen if it fails?