Just Do It!

Sunday, May 10, 2015


PASTEL TASSEL GARLAND BY STUDIO MUCCI *, ASOS DRESS

Does anybody else find themselves saying "I can't do this right now, because I do not have the talent or skill to pull it off"? I find myself thinking this all. the. time. Because I don't have enough confidence in my own abilities and it has caused me to stand still. In my mind I decide that I'm going to do something in x amount of time, and when that self-imposed deadline finally comes, I still don't feel like I'm good enough to do it! "If I wait to do this, I can do it better," I keep telling myself.

But one day I came to a very scary realization - I could trick myself to do this literally forever. I can't let myself not do what I want to do because I'm not "good enough" yet - because you know what? I don't think I'm ever going to feel "good" enough! But instead of using that as a reason to freeze, you can use that feeling to motivate yourself to work harder and drive you forward.

It is okay to let your work represent where you are and your skill level at this exact moment. I have found when I push myself to try, even if I don't love the result, I get feedback from people I respect and I learn so much from the process. And another freeing thought: worst case, in the future, you can just redo it.

So I have decided my new mantra needs to be "Just Do It". Because you know what? We can do it - and we will!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! Please let me know if you have ever felt similarly. Of course there are exceptions to this "rule", but if you are anything like me, this feeling can snowball into not doing any of the things I want to do...! (Like drawing or even riding a horse...)

20 comments:

  1. Love this post - exactly what I needed to read! I can't tell you how encouraging it is to hear that even someone as amazing, accomplished and talented as you gets this. I've wanted to start my own blog for years but there's always something hold me back: insecurities and fear, lack of good equipment ('I don't have a good camera and don't know which are good and affordable' is the recurrent excuse), lack of time, lack of experience (which clearly isn't going to happen if I don't do anything!) Thank you for this encouragement - it's so comforting to be told that you don't have to be perfect and certainly aren't expected to start off that way :)

    - Chloe. x

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  2. Yes, i've felt a lot like that in the past. I had to break ties with that sort of thinking. I mean, it still creeps up from time to time, but i smack it away. lol. We can't grow unless we risk failing. <3

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  3. I really needed that right now, thank you so much, really :)

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  4. I have felt like that alot since like last year but been trying to find that inner confidence again more recently as I've gone on long enough. I find this post really inspiring, thank you for sharing!
    Also love the photo too :)

    VioletDaffodils
    xx

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  5. I've felt a lot like that in the past, but then I realized that you have to start somewhere, so you might as well just start out really crappy and get better!! :)
    By the way...what color is your hair? because it's absolutely gorgeous!!

    heyliesel.blogspot.com

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  6. I'm extremely guilty of this. I've always wanted to write and be published- either a novel or an auto biography, but I have the same thinking pattern. Or that I'm not good enough or I'm gonna fail before I try. I also want to be instantly good at things or I lose interest. Or I master them and lose interest. Ugh I need to stop. What are the things that you want to do that you keep pushing off?

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  7. Yes I totally get what you mean, it can be a bad habit to get into.

    Btw I just stumbled upon your blog and it is gorgeous! Heading to bloglovin' to follow right now.
    Tegan xx - Permanent Procrastination

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  8. Yes yes yes yes yes!!
    You can't start everything already perfect at it, and throwing yourself out there and trying is exactly how you learn and get better!
    And girl, you're already smashing it - with this new attitude, I'm fairly certain you're actually going to take over the world :D
    <3

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  9. YES! I feel like everyone can relate to this on some level - I know I can. Sometimes you learn the most when you have to figure something out as you go. That photo is totally gorgeous, by the way!

    xo, Michelle
    Neon Rattail

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  10. I totally relate to this, and I do in fact need to start using the same mantra!

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  11. Thank you for being such an inspiration! :)
    ♡ Dulce

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  12. Thank you for writing this, Kailey! I really needed to hear this again because I forget it a lot. I hope we will both "just do" everything we want to!

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  13. so true, one day something just clicks and you're like sod it YOLO - so good when things work out too. forever love your blog xx

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  14. I feel like this all the time. It's a drag! But you're absolutely right. What's the point in waiting?

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  15. an artist once told me you need to make bad art in order to make good art and I study geology and ideas are constantly challenged and criticised. If we think making mistakes is the worst thing we can do then we really need to re-evaluate as you have done and think about what's important :)

    http://secret-hipster.blogspot.com/

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  16. Yes, I can't tell you how much I can relate to this! This feeling has really held me back in the past and continues to (to some extent) still, reading this post was really helpful and this is exactly how I have been feeling recently ♡♡ xx
    http://dreaminginpastelsxo.blogspot.com/

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  17. i've definitely felt like this before but all i can say is i don't know how you or anyone else can get "better" at something until they try it and test their abilities. it's the only way to learn how you could do it better next time around and improve your skills. also no one is perfect and i'm pretty sure everyone is their own worst critic, especially when it comes to sharing something about themselves or something they've created with the world. it can be scary putting yourself out there and this is all advice i need to remind myself of as well, but we only get better by trying new things and overcoming our fears so we should all be trying to constantly evolve and grow and develop our skills all the time. :) xxx

    jessica - littlehenrylee.com

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  18. Thank you so so so so much!!! I needed this post more that anything. Lately I haven't really done any of the things I really want, and I just realised that maybe the biggest reason is that I'm scared I can't do it well enough! Your post inspired me to do the things I want.
    Thanks again xx

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  19. Telling myself this constantly is why I have a closet full of unopened crafting supplies. I tell myself I need to gather more information. I need to practice more. I do this because I'm a perfectionist, and the idea of putting something "out there" that isn't perfect seems wasteful, and I'm crippled by the fear of what people will think of my imperfect work.
    I haven't broken this cycle yet, but hearing that other people have been stuck before in the same rut as me does give me confidence that one day I can see myself out of it too.

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