Fear of Being Judged

“Is this any good?”

“Will people laugh at me?”

Putting creative work into the world is fraught with insecurity. You might be putting a song on Soundcloud, a drawing on Instagram, or a short film on YouTube.

Don’t think you’re an artist? Creative work is also cracking a joke to a stressed colleague in hopes of making them laugh, or when a teacher invents a game on the spot to help her students better understand a concept.

All creative work shares one trait: it might fail.

What have I done?

As a self-employed entertainer and speaker, my life has been a series of desperate “I hope you like this” moments. But this is perhaps the most nerve-wracking:

I wrote a book.

It took nearly 3 years of struggle and self-doubt, but I finally have something concrete to put into the world.

And I’m terrified.

Our fearful choice

I’m scared that you won’t like it. But worse, I’m scared that you will. Because if you like it, then I have a responsibility to live up to.

This is the choice we face when doing creative work, two different flavors of fear: Fear that it won’t work and I’ll have to face the fact that I wasn’t good enough (this time), and fear that it will work and I’ll have to prove I’m not a fraud.

Given the choice, I’ll take the latter every time.

Learn about the book here. We launch on November 4, 2018. Thank you for your support.

~Brian

Brian Miller is a globetrotting magician turned speaker and communication specialist. He works with organizations who want to create an environment where everyone feels heard, understood, and valued. He is the author of "Three New People: Make the Most of Your Daily Interactions and Stop Missing Amazing Opportunities" (forthcoming Nov 2018). His TEDx talk “How to Magically Connect with Anyone” has been viewed 3 million times worldwide.

Visit BrianMillerSpeaks.com for more information.