Overcoming Fear

Major Life Goal: Becoming an illustrator for Magic:the Gathering/Wizards of the Coast

Fears/Uncertainties about why I haven't taken action:
1.  Fear of rejection/lack of skill
2.  Fear of being kicked out of my house
3.  Fear of not getting my art made into a card

Reasons for each fear:
1.  Fear of rejection/lack of skill
 - There is a high level of talent for those currently illustrating the game now
 - I'm worried that my portfolio isn't good enough right now
 - I don't have much of this sort of work under my belt

2.  Fear of being kicked out of my house
 - If I spend a lot of time working on a new portfolio, I'll lose out on other, more pressing income opportunities
 - I don't know how long it would take me to paint a whole new portfolio
 - I need a job now

3.  Fear of not getting my art made into a card
 - What if they just give me a kill fee since they end up not liking the final artwork?
 - My style might not be what they're looking for
 - Irrational fear of not measuring up

Well, the answer to most of these is to keep painting stuff on the side and learn to like my art regardless of what other people think.  huzzah!


Write down a major life goal you have yet to achieve or even begin to take action on. For each goal, write down three uncertainties (read: fears) you have relating to each goal. Break it down further, and write down three reasons for each uncertainty. When you have three reasons for your fear, you’ll be able to start processing the change because you know where the fear stems from. Now you’ll be able to make a smaller changes that push you towards your larger goal. So begins the process of “trusting yourself.”
(Author: Sean Ogle)