I am terrified of public speaking.
Literally, in college, right before I gave my first speech for my public speaking class, I was in the bathroom telling the toilet all my secrets. There's just something about being in front of a crowd and having all those eyeballs on you that's flat out terrifying!
And yet, in 2022, I applied— yes, I willingly APPLIED—to be a panelist on a stage at a women's empowerment conference in front of 500 people! I'm sure you're asking yourself: if she's scared of public speaking, why in the world would she do that? That's bananas!
Maybe.
But, I also knew—deep in the marrow of my bones— that:
My desire to tell my story and empower other women was so much greater than my fear of public speaking.
We ALL have that thing we really, really want to do... but, fear is standing in our way. And I get that. I 100% get that.
And yet... we have a choice.
We have to decide to move forward in fear to "do the dang thing," or to let fear win, and keep us on the sidelines.
It's entirely up to us.
So, let's talk about 3 reasons you should GO FOR IT despite your fear:
1.Fear & Excitement CAN Exist Simultaneously
Usually, when we feel fear, our brain tells us NOT to do something. And when it does this, it's just doing it's job of trying to protect us. But... what the brain doesn't understand is that not all fear is a bad thing.
Oftentimes, when we really want to do something, it's natural to feel fear AND excitement because going for something usually is simultaneously scary AND exciting!
Two things can be true at once, my friend. So, let yourself be scared and excited, and move forward anyway, especially if you really want to do the thing. Don't waste your life and time and passion and gifts waiting for fear to evaporate. You can do this!
2. Your Actions have a Ripple Effect
When we look fear in the face and do the thing we really want to do anyway, we're not only empowering ourselves, but we're empowering other people as well. I don't mean this in a creepy way, but... people are always watching! Whether it's your niece or your sister or coworker or a random woman on instagram, they're noticing what you're doing.
And if you're scared AND excited AND going for your goals, you're literally showing others what's possible for them, too.
Because if you can be scared and go for it, then they can be scared and go for it, too. So, if you feel like you can't do the scary and exciting thing for yourself, then do it for another woman. Show her— and yourself— what's possible when you dance with fear.
Never ever underestimate how powerful you are and can be at any given moment. You've got this!
3. You Only Get ONE Life
We are only on this beautiful planet for a TBD amount of time. And if we spend the majority of that life not doing what we truly want to do because of fear, then— to me, at least— that's a life that's not well-lived. Yes, fear is SUCH a potent emotion that can prevent us from doing the things we can to do, but we can't let it.
Because if we let fear keep us from doing the things that we really want to do, then we're going to get to the end of the one life we have and be full of regret.
And that's not something you or I want, right? We want to live a life that's full and rich and wonderful. And part of making that life wonderful is getting uncomfortable and doing the things that we really want to do anyway, despite the fear!
At the end of the day, we're in charge of the kind of life we want to live. So, spent it doing the things you want to do, especially if they light you up.
It's better to try and fail than it is to wonder: what if I did try? What might have happened? What if it did work out?
If you don't try, you'll never know. Soak up every moment and ounce of amazingness that this one life has to offer. Because we only get one.
So, my friend— those are the reasons I think you should go for it despite your fear!
If this was helpful for you, please share this post with a friend or slide into my DMs on Instagram. I'd love to hear from you!
XOXO
Meggy
If you want to hear more about my speaking experience, and how I managed the fear, you've gotta listen to these two episodes of the podcast: