Who Are You Afraid Of?

26 Oct, 2026

Who are you seeking approval from?

Every step forward, there’s a tendency to look back.

To see:

Who’s objecting?

What’s the standard?

Did I do it wrong?

God forbid the work is unrefined.

Looking for inspiration.

At the beginning, it turns to: “it’s been done before.”

While creating, it turns to: “add this, remove this, change this…”

After finishing, it turns to: “everyone is better than me.”

When you try, it feels wrong.

There’s a voice in the back of your head:

“You’re plagiarizing.”

“You’re stealing without credit.”

Suddenly, the motivation to start is gone.

Next time, looking for inspiration is skipped.

You work on a new idea, fuelled by internal drive.

Ideas are flowing.

Creating feels easier.

Iterating is exciting.

Once everything is perfect,

the idea matches the vision.

Then the work is ready to be evaluated,

to be compared to what’s out there.

Then the excitement dims.

The work starts to look like child’s play.

Not only has it been done, it’s been done better.

Third time around.

It follows a normal flow: idea, looking, creating.

Then it moves forward to show the work.

But the result is not promising.

It gets lost in a sea of similar work.

This is where things start to break.

Second guessing.

Comparison.

Insecurity.

And yet again, the motivation is gone.

Then it loops back around.

When everything above connects,

every stage is tied to a feeling.

Idea → leads to excitement

Inspiration → leads to doubt

Creating → leads to overthinking

Looking → leads to comparison

Sharing → leads to insecurity

With this vicious cycle,

how is anything supposed to get done?

Sit and reflect.

Be honest.

Get to the core problem, the real pain point.

Is it making a mistake you fear?

Or embarrassment?

Or criticism?

Or being unoriginal?

Or all of the above?

So what is this really about?

Fear of being seen, and rejected for it.

Or is it something else?

Fear of being authentic, and disliked because of it.