Fear of the Unknown
There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.
There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that, we now know we don’t know.
But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don’t know.”— United States Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld
It’s natural for us to fear the unknown. Like all fears, this can start at an early age and remain with us for most of our lives.
When it comes to embarking on a creative project – or specifically not-embarking on a creative project – it can be somewhat debilitating.
The signs that this is happening in your life are:
- You are a bit of a control freak and won’t start working until you know exactly each step of the way
- You spend more time planning than doing
- When you start creating, doubts about your ability start to sneak in which you use as excuses to stop.
One of the major blocks to our creativity is the avoidance of failure. If you don’t actually do anything then you can’t possibly fail.