Pace and Jonathan have both done a very good job of ass-kicking today. This is my own riff on their fantastic posts.
People go through life making fundamental assumptions about the world around them. In a by and large way, this is a good thing. We’re biologically and evolutionarily programmed to make assumptions based on imparted knowledge or past experience, since the process of gathering new evidence for every new situation or experience is often dangerous or impossible (or at the very least tedious and time-consuming).
The problem comes when we begin to make assumptions based not on logic or empirical evidence, but on our unprocessed emotions or histories.
Assumptions.
We assume that we’re not good enough or not smart enough or that things aren’t going to work. Maybe we were told these things as a child by bullies or (all too tragically) our parents, or we had this sort of self-defeating talk modeled for us. Maybe this is a syndrome that’s come upon us later in life as we’ve suffered defeats without quite understanding why. Whatever the case, the assumptions that we make cause us to lose time, lose money, and lose sleep.
But…
Here’s a question to ask yourself – and those people in your past: So what? And what is “good enough” or “smart enough” anyway?
My good friend Stefan said it very well (paraphrased):
When I go to the ballet I don’t suddenly feel this huge urge – this NEED – to be up on stage dancing ballet. Because, fundamentally, I can’t do it – and so I don’t get fired up with desire to be a ballet dancer. But our instincts and our urges are not there to get us into trouble or torture us. So if you have a yearning burning desire to get up and do something – it’s probably fundamentally something you CAN do. It may not be easy, but you can do it.
Stef has a point. I’ve never yearned to be a racing driver or astrophysicist. My hand-eye coordination and dislike for mathematics would prevent me becoming either – but that’s not the point. I’m just not interested in either of those. But if you do yearn to become a racing driver or astrophysicist, what’s stopping you? Probably not reality – but the thoughts that run through your head.
It happens to everyone.
I’ve wanted to start inspirIT – or something like it – since I was 19 years old. I’ve wanted to use my love and knowledge of technology to free creative people (writers, designers, entrepreneurs, coaches, and other fantastic folks) to do their creative stuff by taking care of the technology implementation side of things. Changing the world by freeing the best people in the world to actually do their most creative work. Simple enough, right?
Simple enough, sure. Your project probably is too.
Those assumptions are the only thing that’s making it complicated. Don’t let them hold you back any more.
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Thank you, Charlotte! I like how Stefan Molyneux puts it, too.