Overcoming internet fear

I admit that I am extremely cautious when it comes to things internet.  There are trust issues and rightfully so.  There are a lot of bad characters out there and they don't always come with the best of intentions on your behalf.  It pays to be cautious.  But am I being too cautious.

I have been hesitant to enter the whole social world, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, whatever etc.  Do I really want to open myself up that much?  Will I slip up and release too much intel related info as to who I am?  Will I become the target of governments and criminals?

Who am I kidding?  I have been writing this blog for several years now and I don't have a mass following yet.  I want to become a more prolific writer which means I would need an audience which means I need to have a following and you can't do that if you hold yourself incognito.  I should set free the irrational fear and let myself shine.  What is the possible worst thing that can happen...I might make some new friends?

So I went to LinkedIn to update my profile with a photo since it would be easier for others to identify me if they could match a name with a face.  I struggle with matching faces with names myself and need all the help I can get.  Trouble is, while I was looking for a photo to use I noticed that I am mostly the one behind the camera and have very few current photos or even many older photos that are of LinkedIn pretentious caliber let alone Facebook worthy.  Maybe generic silhouette is good for LinkedIn for starters but not if I am going to break the mold.  That goes for my Facebook page as well (I was thinking of doing a series of shots with just the back of my head but I am sure it has been done).

While trying to find some new photos to share I came across some old ones I have taken that I kind of like and should find a way to share those as well.  I may have to start loading a few on this blog even just for the fun of it.

Either way I am going to put myself out there and break down some barriers of my own design.  I am going to explore new territories and see if there is anything grand to be had.  And most of all I am going to do a better job at taking selfies.  I am not always as ugly as I think I am.  None of us ever are.

If my hair wasn't such a mess right now I would prove it.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

Interesting comments on being creative...

I came across this entry on LinkedIn I think (sorry I don't remember who made the entry) but it sounded pretty spot on to me:

"If I'd waited to know who I was or what I was about before I started 'being creative,' well, I'd still be sitting around trying to figure myself out instead of making things. In my experience, it's in the act of making things and doing our work that we figure out who we are.

You're ready. Start Making Stuff.

You might be scared to start. That's natural. There's this very real thing that runs rampant in educated people. It's called 'impostor syndrome.'

The clinical definition is a 'psychological phenomenon in which people are unable to internalize their accomplishments.' It means that you feel like a phony, like you're just winging it, that you don't really have any idea what you're doing.

Guess what: None of us do. Ask anybody doing truly creative work and they'll tell you the truth: They don't know where the good stuff comes from. They just show up to do their thing. Every day."

- Austin Kleon, Steal Like An Artist

I like it.  While some say "fake it till you make it" I don't think that matches what Austin is saying here.  What I wanted to highlight was that self doubt can stop you when you shouldn't let it.  Instead, JUST DO IT.  Start making stuff today.  Procrastination should not be allowed in your repertoire.  Take a step, then another and then another and keep it up until a plan emerges before you; then you can move forward with purpose.  It beats just sitting there.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.

"As a man thinketh...

...in his heart so is he."  A quote taken from an essay written by James Allen and published in 1902.

How powerful is this simple phrase.

If you want to be, whatever it is you want to be, the first thing that precedes it is a thought.  That thought is followed by other similar thoughts which will soon be followed by action, and action is the source of becoming.

"Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow and act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson.

If you want to be a positive person, think positive thoughts, do positive things, and become a positive person.  It really is that simple.

I have read somewhere that all it takes to be an optimist or to be a pessimist is to have one more thought one way versus the other.

Just one thought makes all the difference.

Want to know how to add power to this new knowledge?  Here it is...

You have the power of choice.  You choose.  You make the difference.

Decide today that you can be that person you want to be, then do it.

If you decide to take up the challenge, and I hope you do, realize that it isn't always easy, especially if you have allowed yourself to be programmed with negative self talk and negative automatic responses, but I promise you this...YOU CAN DO IT.  You have to actively reprogram your thoughts to be positive and you have to actively reprogram your automatic responses to be positive.  If your thoughts start going the wrong way, recognize it for what it is, faulty programming.  Purposefully stop those thoughts cold in their tracks and forcefully replace them only with the positive thoughts that you decide are the only ones worthy of your attention.

You may not be able to control all that goes on outside you and around you, but your head is your own so own your thoughts.  You have it within you, I know it.  No need to wait.  Start being who you are meant to be today.  You know what a better you is, and if you need someones permission I give you permission to be the better you.  You are worth it.

This is Ed Nef with a view from the Farrwest.