SPA Girls Podcast – EP87 – Facing Your Fears

This week we have a meaty topic for you! We go in-depth and take a look at our fears, the mental stuff that’s stopping us from getting ahead.

We all have fears, from the rational ones that motivate us and keep us going, to the irrational fears that keep us awake at night (and me out of the swimming pool – I swear, Jaws could be in there). This episode is about recognising those fears and lessening their power over us as writers, by naming them, and focusing on ways to overcome them.

We look at the fears that have stopped or hindered us in our writing careers, how we got over them and how you can too. We also talk about the fears we still have, and the ones we wish we had!

Wendy hates this kind of episode, so if nothing else, you should listen to it just to hear her squirm… 🙂

Acknowledge and understand your fears, or you will never learn to deal with them!

Ask the why questions!

Cher’s fears –

  • She fears that no one will want to read her books once she publishes them.
  • Self-doubt, that she has given up a steady income for an unstable one.

Shar’s fears –

  • Fear of being found out to be a fraud.
  • That she’s going to write, and people are not going to want to read her work because for so long she’s believed that she will be a writer.

Wendy’s fears –

  • She’s afraid that one day she’ll wake up and her books have stopped selling, and the life she now lives will no longer exist.
  • Imposter syndrome keeps motivating and driving her to write more and achieve more success.

Trudi’s fears –

  • Thinks her writing is not good enough.
  • Fear of failure. What if I’ve done all this work and it’s not enough!

Other writer’s fears are theirs alone! They are facing different demons to you, so don’t take them on.

The SPA Girls handle their fears and issues, by talking to each other. It’s true that a problem shared is a problem halved.

Excuses manifest our fears!

Stop projecting negativity in your what ifs! Problems can be mitigated.

Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome or the imposter experience) is a concept describing high-achieving individuals who are marked by an inability to internalize their accomplishments and a persistent fear of being exposed as a “fraud”.

Emotions like fear and anxiety have their roots in uncertainty and inexperience.

  • Tim Ferris

Name your fear must be before banish it you can

  • Yoda

Take the time to do Tim Ferris’s exercise.

Links

Tim Ferris https://dailystoic.com/tim-ferriss-ted-stoicism-fear-setting/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author: SPA Girls

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3 Comments

  1. My fears:
    1. Being ‘outed’. I use a pen name for a reason.
    2. Putting another failed book out there.
    3. Technical difficulties (hit ‘publish’ and only 2/3 of the book is submitted to a store. Lawd!)
    4. I don’t fear being unpopular (from real life, I’ve never been a likeable person, so I got over other peoples’ opinions of me), I DO fear people not liking my work.
    5. That the things I write (though fictional) will not make readers think. Or make them feel better. Or be emotive enough to transport them into my own universe.
    6. Zero financial reward. I don’t want to be rich, but I’d like to earn enough to meet my basic needs.

    Also: y’all should swear(/cuss/profane the air) more often. =)

    Post a Reply
    • Great points! We try really hard not to cuss, but sometimes they just slip through 🙂 ~ Shar

      Post a Reply
  2. On Podcasting (and writing): (if your episodes are edited) how often do you find yourselves removing “err”, “umm” and feedback sounds like “uh huh” before you post each episode?

    And does that in some way reflect/affect how you change character dialogue when you’re going through copy in your manuscripts?

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