How to Overcome Your Fears, Step Into the Camera, and Show Up Online
My hair is too greasy today.
I’m not smiling enough, I don’t want to portray that image of myself.
The video is word vomit and probably won’t make sense.
That pimple is too large, nobody needs to see that.
Will anyone even care about this?
Is this silly to say?
Ugh, I don’t feel like re-filming right now.
Tomorrow is a hair wash day, it will be better then.
These are legitimate thoughts that have run through my head when I’m inspired and have something I want to say online. I’ll film a video and then come to realize that I don’t want to share it.
I know that I’m not the only one who has had these thoughts about showing up online.
You know it’s a vital step to building your brand and getting potential clients to learn about you, but you have these mental roadblocks. The bottom line is, you still care about what people think.
So, how do we get over our fears? How do we show up as ourselves consistently and say what’s truly on our minds? I have some ideas and I’m excited to share those with you.
#1 Become Aware of Your Thoughts
As seen above, I listed every thought I was experiencing when it came to hitting “post”. This is the first step to changing any behavior or overcoming a fear.
What are you saying to yourself? What exact words are running through your mind? Do you know what your thoughts are telling you?
Many times we’re completely unaware of what our thoughts are saying and our thoughts have a lot more power than we think.
The next time you want to show up online, but find yourself hesitating, slow down and hear yourself talk. Write down the thoughts that are coming to your mind. Start becoming aware of how you talk to yourself and how often these thoughts occur.
#2 Combat These Thoughts
Once you have found out the underlying reason why you aren’t taking action, you can start taking steps to get over it.
This brings me to mantras.
Maybe you’re thinking yeahhhh, no. The spiritual stuff ain’t for me. Yeah, I get that — but hear me out. This isn’t what you think. There doesn’t need to be any OM’s in your mantras.
Mantras can be really simple positive thoughts. They are proven to be one of the most powerful tools for your mind and they can be used for anything. I know this is true because it’s precisely the most powerful tool I had when leaving my 9-5, becoming a full-time photographer, and building a six-figure business from scratch.
It’s also completely free….. So yeah, why not?
Any time you are fighting negative thought patterns, you are up against a big challenge. You need to remap your thought patterns and create a new blueprint for your mind.
You literally need to change your thoughts. And guess what? Your thoughts, lead to action.
You may be wondering, what type of mantras should I use? This is a great question. It’s also totally personal and depends on the type of thoughts running through your head.
For example, when starting photography I found that a lot of my imposter syndrome was rooted in the thought, “I’m not good enough.” Once I realized this, my mantra became, “you can learn how to be good”. Any time I’d hear myself say I’m not good enough, I’d simply tell myself “you can learn how to be good.” This mantra motivated me to keep working and not cave into fear.
See how that works? To get started, here’s some mantra inspiration that may be helpful to you when showing up online:
It’s not about you.
I love myself just the way I am.
I accept myself just the way I am.
It’s okay to be exactly who I am right now in this moment.
Showing up online is energizing and exciting.
I can do hard things.
I am powerful.
Will this matter in 3 months?
You’ve kicked ass at things bigger than this.
Feel the fear, but do it anyway.
This is only temporary.
Worrying about this is a waste of my energy.
I am enough just the way I am.
I am my own worst critic.
I am letting go of who I think I’m supposed to be and embracing who I actually am. (inspired by the queen of vulnerability, Brene Brown)
Some of these may resonate with you, others may not. It’s important that you find 1-3 that really resonate with you. That may also mean creating your own.
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#3 Action
The more you use your mantras, the more you will start believing them. You will get to a point where your new thoughts are more powerful than the previous negative thought patterns.
This isn’t going to be easy.
It will feel uncomfortable.
But, if you use the above process, you will slowly start to feel more confident showing up online.
Maybe you will go from never doing it to showing up once a month or going from once a week to every other day. Progress is better than perfection (now, hey that’s another mantra — see what I did there?). The point is, the more action you take, the less scary this becomes.
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How are you feeling about showing up online? Do you have any mantras that work for you that you can share to help others? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!