09-08-2019 – The Imagineering Suite, Amersfoort (NL)

‘The first step is always the hardest… So I might as well start walking!’

Part of the quote above will be recognizable for many. Because, let’s say it as it is: Sometimes the first step is very hard or sometimes almost undoable. I felt this myself when I started writing this blog for Flowdiver. I will not deny that the thought of doing this blog has been in my head for a while, but everytime I would be stopped by thoughts like: ‘Why should I do this? What will this blog add? Who is waiting for this stuff anyway?’.

All these thoughts were brought up by my own fears and a strong sense of insecurity. A lot of people struggle with these feelings and let themselves be guided by them. And like I already stated, I know these feelings all too well.

Yet, I do know that I should not let these feelings guide me rationally speaking. By training my mind and working on becoming aware of my thoughts, I have gotten much better at this process. Because I have been able to focus this fear into my art (music/film/design) I am now far more able to deal with these emotions. But that did not happen by itself. That process took me years to accomplish.

We all know that fear and perfectionism are bad advisors. But it can sometimes be quite the battle inside your head to have one side (‘come on, just do it!’) arguing with another side (‘but what if it goes wrong or I am not good enough?’).

The choice to do nothing as a result of this conflict is understandable… But an enormous shame as well!

People are often blocked by their insecurities and their perfectionism to reach their true potential. And I think that that is a very sad development. Because, simply said, if you never start doing anything you will never learn anything new. And if you don’t actually start doing things because you are scared to fail… How will you ever get good at that thing? How can you make those working hours that you need to reach the ending goal then?

Therefore it is very important to go back to the basics of your emotions. Sometimes it can help to just ask yourself ‘why am I doing this?’ or ‘What do I want to reach with this?’. Sometimes that can already be enough to counter the insecurities and to give those emotions a way to settle down. It can help to revisualize your goal, so to speak. But sometimes, more is needed to achieve that solution. I have coached my share of people so far and I am happy to say that I was able to help people deal with these thoughts and emotions. These problems can (fortunately!) be solved.

But sometimes it can be quite the process to get to the core of a problem. There are many factors that can block people in the development of their own creativity and subconscious. In the coming months, I will be using this blog to discuss these topics dealing with insecurities and perfectionism, but I will also look into other matters that are connected to creative development and what can limit that. I hope that this blog can give people a new direction to think in so that they can apply that to their own lives.

If you have any more questions, comments or other input, feel free to contact me through this website and/or the social media pages where I am active. I would love to hear what you all think!

In conclusion, I can say that it is quite a new challenge for me to start writing a blog like this. But I am quite excited to start this adventure as well. Because… The first step is always the hardest… So I might as well start walking!

See you next week!
Tom