I speak to new, intermediate and veteran bloggers who cling to fear.
This fear is strong.
This fear holds you back, blocking your blogging success, perpetuating your struggles.
What is the fear?
The fear of criticism.
How does the fear manifest typically?
As fearing how people will react to your blog posts. Or to specific blog posts.
All About Them Nothing About You
How people react to your blog posts says everything about them and nothing about you. Reactions are projections of the individual.
If you publish specific content that seems to press a nerve understand this; you did not press a nerve. Readers project, choose to think what they think, and either react, or respond or do nothing after you publish a blog post.
Terribly tough idea to hug, embrace and embody if new to blogging, I know. I feared publishing anything on my blog and social media sites as a newbie 10 years ago. No way could I cover “touchy topics” or “controversial topics.”
Sure enough, some friends, fam and strangers had problems with posts on my old blog. But “they” had problems. I did nothing other than trigger their fears by publishing posts.
These first few critical lobs stung because my readers or non readers helped trigger a release of fears I clung to regarding:
Good thing said readers or non readers triggered the fear flood too; no way I’d be as happy and no way I’d have been able to retire to a life of island hopping through smart blogging if I clung to fears, predominantly.
I do them service by triggering their fear flood too; the wise own their stuff and do not criticize, and the foolish try to criticize me, react to me and attempt to project their pain and fear on me through critical lobs.
But I let them go.
I know; their criticism, or negative reaction, has everything to do with them and their projection and nothing to do with me and the service I render for my community.
How to Embody this Concept
Publish your next blog post.
Publish another blog post.
Publish any post you fear publishing because you believe friends, family, readers, and the Universe in general may react in critical, negative, nasty ways.
Especially if you tackle a topic where you lack clarity, win-win scenario. You get to deal with your fear of criticism and the critic gets to see how their critical ways do not serve them, even if they have not this awareness now.
More than anything, publishing posts persistently and observing critics reveals that criticism has everything to do with the critic and nothing to do with you. You are helping folks. If someone sees your help as hurting, they are hurting. The saying goes, “Hurt people hurt people.” People in pain, living in fear, lash out like the cobras that live in the forest by the place here in Thailand. Cobras only attack in self-defense. Critics only attack because they are living in fear, trying to defend themselves from their own demons by projecting their pain and suffering on you.
The pain, suffering and criticism is their own world. Your world is love, help, service, inspiration and fun.
2 different worlds.
2 different experiences.
Publish the next post. Then the next.
If you want to create the mindset of a successful blogger learn how to publish posts despite fearing criticism, until you largely feel and release this fear.
One day, you will do you without giving any thought to how other human beings may respond to you helping people. Liberation. Freedom. Fun. Not being burdened by the fear of criticism.
Doesn’t that seem like it’d feel wonderful?