What a lot of people are hoping is how to be free of the fear of being seen. What they’re hoping is, “Can I please pay somebody, anybody, to tell me how to do this so that it feels like cotton candy and unicorns and rainbow and glitter when I’m doing something that is going to stretch the bounds of what I know to be possible in this life?”
Good news, bad news is: no.
Welcome to my take on it after being in online business for 16 years, after doing YouTube videos for 16 years, and after facing and confronting the uncomfortable feelings that come with doing one’s life’s work. I’m here to help you to finally, once and for all, let go of the label of the “fear of being seen”—because it does not exist.
Key Points From the Episode
- The Pathology Industrial Complex is a Scam: A lot of so-called coaches charge $5,000 to talk about a sensation in your body. We are overanalyzing and pathologizing something that isn’t a problem. It’s just a distraction and procrastination mechanism from the ego to keep you from doing your life’s work.
- Sensations are Normal and Necessary: A tight chest, sweaty body, and tightness in your throat are 1,000% normal when putting your work out into the world. It’s not a pathology; it’s just called “sensations arising.”
- Imposter Syndrome is a Myth: Just like the fear of being seen, there is no such thing as imposter syndrome. It does not exist. It’s just a siren song from the ego to keep you from sitting your ass in the chair and getting to work.
- You Can’t Have It Both Ways: The human ego craves comfort and numbness. But you only get to choose one path: you can either stay comfortable, or you can do exceptional work that gives you freedom and accept that you will feel fear and discomfort while doing it.
- Accept the Burn to Build the Muscle: When I started doing pull-ups at 16, my biceps burned and I felt self-doubt. I didn’t call it “pull-up syndrome.” I accepted the uncomfortable sensations, and now at 40 years old, I can do 12 pull-ups. Stop pathologizing the natural burn of growth.
- The More You Give, The More You’re Given: Putting content and promotions out into the world causes energy to rush through you. The more you give to the world, the more you are given energetically because you become a light in the universe.
Stop Naval Gazing and Get to Work
Every single minute that you spend trying to figure out and get out of the fear of being seen is just the ego saying, “Let’s think about this, let’s overanalyze it.” This is something that I’m delivering to my younger self who was like, “Oh no, there’s sensations here.” And I’m telling my younger self, “Yep, you’re doing it right.”
The ego says, “But it’s really intense.” And I’m like, “Yep, that’s right. I feel a lot of fear and discomfort. Exactly. Do it anyway.”
Nobody gets a get out of jail free card. You don’t get to get rid of the feeling, but you get to dance with it. You get to let it electrify your work. Does the energy go away? No, but it transmutes into a magnificent dance partner here to do a disco dance with you.
There’s no feeling that’s more dreadful to me than having an idea that I would really like to get out into the world and not really doing it. So if you feel a lot of fear, anxiety, discomfort—post it anyway, and watch as magic unfolds.
If you want to see the full breakdown, you can watch the original video here:
