Don’t let it drive, but let it be the fuel.
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, [...], if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
—Theodore Roosevelt
In my previous post, I made a case for attending to your distraction in case it is your repressed curiosity calling for attention. In this second part of the three-part series, I want to discuss how to manage dread and fear. The excerpt above is from a former president of the United States, and I have cherished it for decades because it reminds me of what truly matters.
There are different schools of thought about fear. Some suggest that fear is a necessary emotion that we all need to survive. Fear teaches you to be cautious, careful, conscientious, creative, compassionate, and calculating. Another suggests that fear can paralyze our creativity and lead to analysis paralysis. None of the schools are necessarily wrong, but what you ask yourself is, would fear fuel me or paralyze me?
Brené Brown writes in Atlas of the Heart that we distinguish between fear as a state and fear as a trait. Recognizing the biology of the physiological symptoms for each type of fear, along with our biography (the ways we are shaped by our upbringing), behavior (how fear manifests), and backstory of these emotions can help guide us in navigating this emotional terrain. How does fear show up for you? For some it is diarrhea, for others it is procrastination, among many other symptoms.
As academics or professionals, we confront a different range of fears. Fear of peer reviewers, the anticipation of their feedback, and the apprehension of exposing our ideas to criticism, ridicule, or even humiliation due to grammatical, syntactic, or other mistakes are among the fears we face.
My primary fear and overriding concern regarding my recent article is whether I have enough time to publish it while managing all the demands of graduate school.
One of my ways of dealing with fear is to remember some words I heard from my PoP. He has said countless times, “Don’t let fear drive the car of your life; let it be the fuel.” Further, he said, "I don't mind fear riding, but I won't let it drive. It may be in the car, but it won't have the wheel.”
One of the books that have helped me when putting my work out there, whether in submitting it to journal, sharing with my mentors, or otherwise, is Brené Brown’s book Daring Greatly
Whatever you are aiming for, don't let fear paralyze you.
Turn your fear into your fuel.
Reader discretion is advised.
