I have this thing I say multiple times a day. Sometimes out loud. Sometimes just to myself. Sometimes I say it to my wife Heidi. Sometimes Heidi says it to me.
Move fast and get hurt.
The other day she wondered whether she should go to this party. She didn’t really know many people. Would it be fun? What if she didn’t fit in? What if it was incredibly awkward?
Move fast and get hurt.
I was invited to a music industry event. I didn’t want to go because I don’t like to go anywhere, honestly, but even more so, I don’t like to go anywhere I haven’t been before. Some place where I don’t know what’s going to happen or who’s going to be there. What if I wear the wrong clothes or say something stupid. What if I throw up or get a nose bleed (I get those often) or poop my pants (I don’t do that often).
Move fast and get hurt.
Why? Because my default setting is to move slow and be careful, so I don’t get hurt.
Moving slow and being careful is a great mantra when you’re pushing your grandmother in a wheelchair. But for a lot of other things, it probably doesn’t move your life forward toward the person you want to be or the things you want to accomplish.
Take for example this blog post I’m writing. I don’t know if I want to send it because it reveals a part of me I’m not all that proud of. There’s a risk that you might think less of me or that you’ll think I’m too self-helpy or that I should keep my thoughts to myself and go eat worms!
I could go on with these thought patterns for days until this blog post doesn’t get sent. It doesn’t even get finished. Or it gets completely watered down and says nothing at all.
But I’ll have moved slow and been careful. I won’t have gotten hurt.
Then I think about a few things.
I think about the example I’m trying to set for my kids. I want them to listen to their hearts. As long as they’re not endangering themselves or others, I want them to take chances. No, I don’t really want to see them get hurt, but that’s a part of the deal, isn’t it. Can’t have your cake and eat it, too (not sure if that saying works here, but you get the point).
I also think about the person who might read this and need a little encouragement right now. Somebody who’s had their throttle on turtle mode a little too long. Maybe that’s you.
The last thing I think about is whether or not I really care what the naysayers might think of me.
The truth is, when it comes down to it, I care. A little.
But I don’t think that’s enough. It’s not enough to not listen to my chest and take chances toward the person I want to be. Simply put, in this particular instance where I’m experiencing all of what I’m talking about — it’s not enough to not hit the PUBLISH button for this blog post.
So, here I go.
Move fast and get hurt.
Love,
Aaron
P.S. Don’t take this as an excuse to be stupid. Don’t leave your wife and kids or go rock climbing without a harness. But maybe apply for that job. Show somebody that painting or poem you’ve been working on.