Fighting resistance when being scared

This week I’m going to record my long-overdue “10 Steps to Ultimate Productivity Course” which consists of 1 intro step and 10 steps that will deal with many aspects of productivity. To make it more difficult for myself I’m going to record it in all languages I know: English, Polish, Spanish, German… and Japanese (for this last one I’ll have a co-host :-) … and I was supposed to have spent last week preparing for the recording when I had a very important family issue to sort out (good one, but a big one) and some other crisis along the way as well (and many Nozbe-related decisions). It was all very stressful… and this past weekend I felt like canceling the whole recording when another road-block showed up…

Being scared and uncomfortable is a constant state when you’re doing something meaningful

The last week was so stressful that I started questioning whether it all makes sense, if I should record this course… and if it’s not too ambitious to do it in so many languages… and if it really helps anyone at all… and if it’s worth the effort…

I can communicate pretty fluently in all these languages (except Japanese, where I’m a beginner) but it’s another thing to record an 11-episode-course where each part is around 7 minutes long… and to do it with the same level of professionalism, enthusiasm and passion. It’s going to be hard, and scary…

It reminds me of…

.. just a few weeks ago when we were fighting with apple to get Nozbe iOS apps approved and had to take 4 rejections before they’d actually let us in. I was prepared to give up again… I just couldn’t take it anymore…

Well, now the apps are there, we just submitted an update with bug-fixes and are preparing a major version 1.5 scheduled for the beginning of March. The customers are happy, my developers are happy, things are looking up now.

This is resistance talking. It’s scary. Fight it. You will win.

I cannot NOT record the course. Too many people are waiting for it. Too many people have worked really hard to make it happen. Too many people will actually benefit from it!

I owe it to my customers and to everyone who is following me. I owe it to you. I owe it to myself. I have to give my best and record the best productivity course I can. And I will… but it still is scary.

Seth Godin said in an interview with me for the Productive! Magazine that when his “lizard brain” tells him something is scary and feels uncomfortable, it actually means he should go exactly this way. It’s like a compass. The same says Steven Pressfield in his great book “The War of Art”.

This is how I feel… I feel that the problems of the past week and weekend reassured me that what I’m about to do is something meaningful and if I can pull it off anyway it’s going to be worth it.

I’ve got a great team here helping me out and we’re soooo recording this course. I just traveled 3 thousand miles to do it and I’m not coming back home until we’re done. I will not let the resistance stop me. I will crush it. Even though it’s all so scary. I’m scared, but I’m moving forward.

Are you scared, too?

Are you doing anything that feels uncomfortable because it’s scary and it’s new and it’s out of your comfort zone but you know it’s going to be great in the long run? I hope so, because it’s a great indicator you’re fighting the resistance. Keep on keeping on and you will win the fight. You have to. We need you to.

This week I will record this course. And nothing can’t stop me now.

Question: What has scared you lately?