journal

Sucking at Something New is Scary

July 11, 2023
2
Minute Read
Written by:
Jess Cruz-Abalos

Sucking at Something New is Scary

As a creative person who depends so much on visuals, writing hasn't always come naturally to me. My mind tends to work faster than my mouth and for some reason there is this disconnect between my brain and the keyboard. 

Let’s be real. Starting anything new is scary. Some people may not admit it, but when we do something new, we’re practically being vulnerable and putting ourselves out there. And appearing weak wasn’t necessarily part of my Filipino-American upbringing.

So doing this blog and our newsletter is scary AF for me. It truly gives me anxiety, and I avoid it as much as I can. I kid you not; this is like my third attempt at writing this.

But like I mentioned before, this is the year I’m stepping out of my comfort zone. And as Jillian Michaels yelled so aggressively on her Youtube channel, “Get comfortable being UNcomfortable!”

Ok, let’s do this.

As a creative person who depends on visuals, writing hasn’t always come naturally to me. My mind tends to work faster than my mouth, and there’s this disconnect between my brain and keyboard. It's gets all jumbled in the process and I end up getting embarrassed with what I put out.

And here’s the thing, I KNOW that I have to suck at writing before I get decent at it. It’s this growing pain phase that I get super impatient with, and I know I just have to get over it. As my rad client and friend, Tina Medina of the VIBE Movement says...

“Trust in the process”

So how do I get over this phase? I just need to keep writing! The more I do it, the more I’ll get better at it, and then the more I'll get confident. Sure, I’ll make mistakes - I’ll have a few typos, grammatical errors, and a couple of sentences constructed incorrectly — all the fun things that make an English teacher or writer grimace. BUT! It will be ok! The world won’t end, and I won’t die.

I’ll just get mad at myself momentarily and shake my head in embarrassment, but on the up-side I'll learn from my mistakes and be better the next time.

Thanks to my daughter and her love of music, the children show Yo Gabba Gabba sang it best:

Keep trying, keep trying,
Don’t give up.
Don’t stop, don’t give up.
Don’t stop, don’t give up

Can you relate? Are you currently doing something new to improve yourself? Are you also in that SUCKING phase, and what are you doing to get out of it? Is there something I can do to help you get past it? If so, let me know, friend.

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