“Come out swinging.” – Kelly Gurnett, Cordelia Calls it Quits

It’s always tempting to hold back a little when you start.

After all, who are you? Just a beginner, that’s who. Why should you expect to be the all-fired, hot-buttered awesome right out of the starting gate?

Well, why not?

This is your thing. Yours and nobody else’s. Yet you worry that others will disapprove because you don’t know their idea of your place.

Mind how that worry-about-what-others-will-think-of-you feels. A clutching sensation around your heart, your lungs, right?

Do you notice how that clutching sensation makes your stride that little bit tentative? Saps and spoils the joy of finally starting the thing you dig?

“Be confident,” Kelly Gurnett says. “Let your personality show.”

When Kelly started her web log, Cordelia Calls It Quits, she started writing as though she already had an audience of thousands of like-minded individuals. She wrote with the brassy, take-no-prisoners confidence that she loved in the blogs she followed.

“Believe in your voice and believe that people are going to want to hear,” Kelly says. “Come out with your best and keep going.”

Want to hear more about how Kelly Gurnett went from being a nine-to-fiver with no belief in herself to a full-time freelancer? Listen to her episode of the Paid to Play Podcast.

Photo by MartialArtsNomad.com. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.