What Are You Scared Of?

February 22, 2010

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

– Jedi Master Yoda

Yoda’s always been one of my biggest (and yet smallest) heroes. Okay, so not really — I was looking for any excuse to fit Yoda into a blog post. But Yoda was wise, and he took on the duties of training Luke Skywalker to become a Jedi warrior. And we all know that was no easy task.

But that was a tale that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Today, if Luke Skywalker were destined to lead the Rebel Alliance on planet Earth, he’d probably have a blog and a Twitter account and a Facebook fan page to help spread the revolution. And Yoda would be his social media guide.

Of course, Luke, always a whiny little punk, would be scared to jump into the social media jungle. And Yoda would have to hold his hand and walk him through things like he always does.

Are you scared? If so, why? What are you scared of?

Are you scared of sounding stupid? Are you scared of making a fool of yourself? I do that offline on a regular basis. Why should I be afraid of doing it online?

Are you scared you might not quite be an expert on what you want to talk about? Yeah, maybe you’re not right now. But what better way to build a community that grows with you as you learn more about your niche and share what you learn with others?

Are you scared that people will tear you apart? That people are waiting for you to screw up? Yeah, they’re out there. But I don’t think there are as many of those people as you think. It’s been my experience that there are many people online who want to help you. All they ask in return is that you help them too.

Are you scared that if you finally make the effort and fail, you will have no excuse for why you’re not doing something? I’m failing right now. Every day, my blog is not where I want it to be. But every day, I feel myself making progress. Slowly but surely. You can do the same. Come along for the ride. Just beware of bantha fodder.