Making the Big Leap
We all know the fear of making a leap into the unknown. The human brain is wired to keep us safe, so if it senses danger, it injects us with fear - often in the form of adrenaline. A warning shot - Stop! Back up! Do not jump off that cliff!But our brain evolved during a time when real dangers existed - that tiger in the forest might eat us and the adrenaline gave us enough energy to escape. Nowadays, real danger is a rare experience, but the fear remains and rears its head whenever we embark on something new."Don't leave that safe job to start your own business," it says."Don't leave that bad relationship - it's better than nothing.""Don't make a big bold mark on that painting - you might lose everything you've done so far!"But it's been my experience that those leaps - the ones that scare us the most - are the ones we need to make. Because on the other side, lies magic.
From Idea to Execution in 3 weeks
I had the idea for the "Find Your Joy" program while out walking my dog. It came to me whole, the central concept, the title, and almost all the lessons - as it I was downloading it into my brain. It felt completely right and I knew I had to do it. And yet, the fear kicked in almost straight away."What if no-one signs up and you get embarrassed?" and the immediate follow-up: "And if they do sign up "who do you think you are?"But, because I have trained myself to ignore the voice of fear, I did it anyway. The course sold out within 10 days and I launched it 3 weeks after the initial idea. In doing so, I discovered two massive new surprises:1) I love teaching. I mean I LOVE it!2) I'm good at it.I would have said neither of these things were true if you'd asked me 6 weeks ago.
That's the Magic of the Big Leap
When you make that leap, when you make that bold move, you always learn something surprising and you generally get good results. And it applies to your art just as much as to your life.Risk is absolutely essential to strong art work.Every painting that you love contains an element of risk. The artist threw herself into it with all she had - she didn't hedge her bets, she didn't make tentative marks - she threw herself in and made the big leap. She did the things that frightened her the most. And the result is a work of art that you love. You love it because you sense her 'all-in' commitment.So my question to you is: where in your work could you make that big leap? What bold moves need to be made? What risks need to be taken?The only thing stopping you is fear - but look around you: Do you see a tiger?Photo by Mike BairdIf you're not already on my mailing list, sign up to get a weekly email full of ideas, inspiration and encouragement or join us in our private Facebook group :)