A Life Lesson Learned Later Than I Should Have Gotten It
So in a tongue-in-cheek move, I decided to adopt the text of a parody of one of those motivational posters as my resolution this year - "Stop worrying about what could go wrong and just focus on butts". For some reason it's turning out to be the perfect way of short-circuiting the second-guessing you always do that ends up psyching yourself out of something.
And I'm telling ya, since I adopted it...it's been working.
1. Even before New Year's Eve, I got an email from someone suggesting I apply to a job as a staff writer for [name of institution redacted]. Now, in the past I would have hemmed and hawed and fretted about whether I would be up for the challenge, and would have decided I wouldn't be able to do it and would have not bothered to apply. But this time, when I started doing that, I remembered "just focus on butts", pictured a couple of my favorite such examples and then went ahead and applied. And...I consider that a victory already. Even if I don't get that particular job, I applied for it, and nothing bad happened. Now I can just keep doing that more often.
2. I've been working on an article for the web site Atlas Obscura about various Worlds' Fair sites, and needed pictures. And I hemmed and hawed about how I was going to get them - surely if I asked the press offices for them, either they'd charge huge amounts of money or they'd turn me down. But then - I thought about butts instead for a minute, had a good giggle, and went on to look up various press offices and ask for pictures. And - I'm actually starting to get them. For free.
3. I'm working on another article for Atlas Obscura, one that's going to have something to do with frogs. And my editor had a question about frog behavior. And I fretted - how was I going to answer it? Even if I did ask someone, wouldn't they blow me off because I was asking a stupid question and they were busy?
But then, as before - butts. And then I pulled up the web site of a university, picked a couple people to write to, and asked my question. Within five minutes I had three people all refer me to the frog behavioral student they had two years ago, who is now serving as an adjunct professor on frogs at another university.
I'm telling ya. Butts. They're turning out to be the solution to a lot of problems.
And I'm telling ya, since I adopted it...it's been working.
1. Even before New Year's Eve, I got an email from someone suggesting I apply to a job as a staff writer for [name of institution redacted]. Now, in the past I would have hemmed and hawed and fretted about whether I would be up for the challenge, and would have decided I wouldn't be able to do it and would have not bothered to apply. But this time, when I started doing that, I remembered "just focus on butts", pictured a couple of my favorite such examples and then went ahead and applied. And...I consider that a victory already. Even if I don't get that particular job, I applied for it, and nothing bad happened. Now I can just keep doing that more often.
2. I've been working on an article for the web site Atlas Obscura about various Worlds' Fair sites, and needed pictures. And I hemmed and hawed about how I was going to get them - surely if I asked the press offices for them, either they'd charge huge amounts of money or they'd turn me down. But then - I thought about butts instead for a minute, had a good giggle, and went on to look up various press offices and ask for pictures. And - I'm actually starting to get them. For free.
3. I'm working on another article for Atlas Obscura, one that's going to have something to do with frogs. And my editor had a question about frog behavior. And I fretted - how was I going to answer it? Even if I did ask someone, wouldn't they blow me off because I was asking a stupid question and they were busy?
But then, as before - butts. And then I pulled up the web site of a university, picked a couple people to write to, and asked my question. Within five minutes I had three people all refer me to the frog behavioral student they had two years ago, who is now serving as an adjunct professor on frogs at another university.
I'm telling ya. Butts. They're turning out to be the solution to a lot of problems.