This morning, I received a Facebook message from a friend. It read, “My book has shipped — I can’t wait to read it!” Apparently, Amazon decided to start shipping my book, The Anxious Lawyer (affiliate link), before the release date and didn’t let me know! If I’m being honest about it, I’m both extremely excited and nervous. This mixture of excitement, nervousness, and fear is a familiar cocktail.

When I stumbled into mindfulness, I didn’t know where the journey would lead. All I knew at the time was that I was chronically anxious and I needed a solution. Much of the anxiety was rooted in fear and self-doubt. I spent so much of my life fixated on doing everything perfectly, so stepping out of my comfort zone and saying “yes” when the ABA asked me to write a book felt terrifying.

Saying “yes,” despite the fear, despite the self-doubt, is really difficult. Especially when faced with naysayers who will at every opportunity tell you how stupid you are, how you’ll fail, and how you don’t deserve to have a voice.

I certainly won’t claim to have conquered that inner critic who insists on listening to the naysayers. Even in situations where there is no one telling me that I can’t do this, the inner critic will insist on it because I’m not smart enough, don’t have the right degree, the right pedigree, or know enough (or insert the other 1,001 reasons).

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