Today's thought
Cringe
A hard-to-swallow truth: Most good things on the internet (and in life) are on the other side of feeling extremely cringe. If you’re not at least a little uncomfortable with your growth-oriented behavior, you’re probably not taking enough risks.
Life asymmetrically rewards those who put themselves on the line in order to get ahead — but inversely, other people asymmetrically judge those who stand out, which is why we feel so silly about things. When you’ve seen how Internet People™ treat someone doing something weird in public (we’ve all seen fail videos), it makes you want to never be the subject of ridicule.
The cringe is required if you want to even have a shot at your goal.
But here’s the thing: It’s not like you’re not riding a unicycle through town in your underwear (or any other nonsense equivalent)… you’re just making a YouTube video about your process. Or sharing new work. Or writing out your opinions.
You’re not as cringe as you think.
Nobody cares as much as you think.
Standing out is more powerful than you think.
The cringe is in your head. Power through.
A hard-to-swallow truth: Most good things on the internet (and in life) are on the other side of feeling extremely cringe. If you’re not at least a little uncomfortable with your growth-oriented behavior, you’re probably not taking enough risks.
Life asymmetrically rewards those who put themselves on the line in order to get ahead — but inversely, other people asymmetrically judge those who stand out, which is why we feel so silly about things. When you’ve seen how Internet People™ treat someone doing something weird in public (we’ve all seen fail videos), it makes you want to never be the subject of ridicule.
The cringe is required if you want to even have a shot at your goal.
But here’s the thing: It’s not like you’re not riding a unicycle through town in your underwear (or any other nonsense equivalent)… you’re just making a YouTube video about your process. Or sharing new work. Or writing out your opinions.
You’re not as cringe as you think.
Nobody cares as much as you think.
Standing out is more powerful than you think.
The cringe is in your head. Power through.
Hundred Daily™ is a 100-day writing challenge by Aaron Rolston. The goal is to publish 100(ish) words daily & send them out via email. Consider subscribing if you'd like to receive daily broadcasts from me.