7-40 Challenge | Round 4, Day 8
I started reading Admiral McRaven’s Make Your Bed today while mowing the yard. Chapter 6 is called “Dare Greatly.” It’s about the slide for life in SEAL training — the obstacle where going headfirst is faster but terrifying, and most people go feet first because it feels safer.
I know exactly what my version of feet first looks like. Keep creating. Keep writing blog posts. Keep building things in private. Keep doing the comfortable parts of this challenge and never venture into the hard part — which is telling people about what I’ve built and asking them to care.
The thing I’m most afraid of is making a marketing plan and sticking to it. Not because I don’t know how to talk to people. Not because the work isn’t good. Because somewhere deep down, I don’t want to look like I’m asking for help. I don’t want people to think I’ve got my hand out. Promotion feels like begging, and I’ve had a chip on my shoulder my whole adult life about wanting to be taken seriously.
That’s not irrational. It’s pride. And it’s been in the way for a long time.
I asked myself two questions this week.
What’s the worst thing that happens if I go headfirst and it doesn’t work? I still have my day job. I still have my family and my home. The worst case is a little egg on my face and a recovery. That doesn’t sound all that bad.
What’s the worst thing that happens if I stay safe? Then I’m an impostor. I built all of this — two novels, 144 days of habits, a business plan, a framework that works — and I never let anyone see it. That’s worse than rejection. That’s hiding.
And I’m done hiding.
The funny thing is, I’ve gone headfirst before. I went headfirst into my relationship with my wife because I knew exactly what I wanted and I didn’t care what anyone else thought. I went headfirst into my master’s degree. I went headfirst into every career move that mattered.
The creative work and the business — I turned those into some magical unicorn that required a level of courage I supposedly didn’t have. But they’re not magic. People do this every day. And here I am, stuck having a hard time getting over myself.
Thirty-three days left in Round 4. Time to go headfirst.
David Willis 