I have been blocking myself from launching this site. Full of self doubt and unfounded fears and anxieties. Will it be good enough? Will people see any value in this? Will I be rejected? By holding on to these fears I have maintained the biggest obstacle in my path, the only limitations to my creative expression.

When I come across fear in my mental environment, why do I hold on to it?

Imagine yourself hiking down an unfamiliar path, when you turn a corner and find a massive redwood tree fallen across the trail. With a bit of work, you can climb over it and continue on the path, but instead you grab a hold of the tree and try to bring it with you. It is not the tree limiting your progress, you are limiting yourself by not letting go. This tree represents fear, but not all fears are as massive and inhibiting as a tree. Some are more like stones or medium to large rocks. As you collect and hold on to these rocks, sometimes burying them deep down in your pack so they are almost forgotten, they increasingly slow you down. Eventually the collective weight becomes too much to bear.

Sometimes we refuse to acknowledge all of the rocks and stones we have accumulated, and continue to struggle on, risking both mental and physical pain and suffering. Everyone handles fear their own way.

Even though I intellectually understand that I should not hold on to fear, I still do. By holding on to fear, my actions are altered and even inhibited. Fear is self limitation.

I had been mulling these types of ideas for weeks, when I met a beautiful soul. As we sat talking on the edge of the bay, she captured the essence of these ideas very concisely: “Sometimes I just need to get out of my own way.”

That is precisely true for me. I have been in my way for several months, even years. Blocking myself from launching this site, finishing my book, and pursuing other passions. It is time that I let go of these self fabricated limitations and take action instead.

Fear, and therefore limitations, only stop me if I allow them to. If the limitations are physical, there is always a creative solution to work around them – this is the opportunity for innovation. If they are mental, I can find the root and uplift it – this is the opportunity to learn about the self.

It is time to get out of your own way by emptying your bags of all of the fear rocks which have been collected. Fear blocks the full expression of the self. It creates walls where none exist, and separates the beauty of who we are from those around us. To be your best self, examine and reflect on your fears. Accept them, learn from them, and let them go. Have patience with yourself in the process, there is no rush.

Check out this exercise to help with reflection and awareness of self limitations.