The Point of Release

While I was visiting a brother-in-law, he asked me an important question:

"Where did you put your book?"

My reply was:

"The copies are at the house, still in the boxes."

Why was this true? Was it because I didn't realize I could donate the book to the library? Was it because I didn't know to take it to the Arts and Entertainment section of the local newspaper?

No; I knew full well that I was supposed to be marketing this, my first fruit of authoring. What stopped me was anxiety at the point of release.

We have all experienced this. You may have practiced a speech for weeks, but felt mortified the second you stepped on stage.

Perhaps you read stacks of books on parenting, but choked up when you actually got the baby home.

Maybe you studied for a test for a year, but when it came time to perform in the testing environment, you drew a degrading and discouraging blank.

When it came time to release what you had, what you had stored up for the exact time that you needed it, you felt stifled, choked, fearful.

I admit, this is what I felt. This is where I was.

Call it what you may: stage fright, fear of failure, etc. The bottom line is that when it came time to push what I knew would inevitably market itself, I thought twice. I wasn't ready to let go.

What are you not ready to let go of? Be for real about that.

Let that thing go. Your letting go will ultimately affect your success.

-TJM