Allowing yourself to do what you love can be an incredibly scary thing.

For some people, this might seem strange. But for anyone who is artistic, creative, or right-brained, you know the feeling. If you’re shy, introverted, or anxiety-prone, then finding the strength to do what you love, completely uninhibited, is intimidating.

Here’s some truth for you, my fellow creatives:

You have to say yes.

Simply saying “yes” to new and unnerving situations is the quickest way to push you forward. Are you terrified? Does the thought of saying “yes” to a particular opportunity blanch your face and make you want to retreat into a warm, safe, quilt-covered blanket fort? Then do that thing. Use your fear as a compass. If you know your afraid of something because it forces you out of your comfort zone, you need to do it. You need to! If you’re scared of it, then follow that opportunity because it’s going to be amazing on the other side.

You have to put in the work.

Fear can be paralyzing. Fear of failure, fear of imperfection, fear of total and complete rejection. Don’t let that fear stand in between you and what you love! Stare it down, burn it with the searing fire of your passion. Then do it. Write that song. Write that album. Plan that tour. Go hard for an hour and get it done. Get something done. No, it will never be perfect and no, you’ll never do enough research. But putting in the time it takes to get it done is 1,000 times more valuable than any “preparing” you could ever do.

It’s ok to take time for yourself, and to enjoy it!

Sometimes, taking time to ourselves to pursue our passion can make us feel incredibly guilty (and I am definitely one of those people).  We think, “Who am I to sit here in a quiet room with the door closed, enjoying my ‘me-time’, while my husband/wife/children are being ignored? They’re probably doing all the things around the house that I should be doing right now. They’re probably wondering why I always want to slink off by myself. They must think I’m so selfish. I can’t keep doing this to them.”

You know what? The people in your life who love you want you to be happy. The people in your life who love you know what passion is. They want you to make your dreams come true. The best tool I’ve found that helps me with this is simple communication. I tell my boyfriend “I’m going to go write for a little bit!” and he’s like, “Cool!”. In the end, we both get some much appreciated me-time.

How do you overcome your fears when you scared to death? How have you used your fear to fuel your writing?