What’s Stopping You Now?

I once heard a question in a TEDx talk: " What would you do if you had unlimited money and unlimited time? "

You make your list. Then they ask the second question: " What’s stopping you from doing it now?"

Most people go quiet, because the honest answer is rarely money or time. It’s us. We tell ourselves, “only if I had this, I could do that.”

In this backdrop, Recently, while watching Raj Shamani’s vlogs, I found my own answer to the first question. I want to be in big rooms, talking to people who are the best at what they do, and earn from it. Basically podcasting.

So I asked myself the second question. What’s stopping me now?

The answer: looking cringe.

Starting a podcast means starting small. A cheap mic. Putting my face out there. Posting everywhere. People laughing and asking, “What is she even doing?”

I’m scared of that threshold. Of what people will think.

But this also feels nostalgic because : I’ve crossed this threshold before.

The day I published my first blog post, my heart raced the whole day. I was sure people were judging me. Some probably did. I kept writing anyway, and along the way it stopped feeling cringe.

People didn’t stop judging. I just kept showing up until it stopped being news.

Maybe cringe isn’t a wall. Maybe it’s a phase. My first episode only stays un-cringe if there’s never a second one.

I don’t know yet who I’ll talk to first.

But I know what’s stopping me. And I’ve beaten it before.