136. A Little Pep Talk

A pep talk from Nora for when you’re scared to try something new. 

Transcripts may not appear in their final version and are subject to change.

Nora:  I’m Nora McInerny, and this is It’s Going To Be Okay, a daily podcast slash group project where we bring you a little bit of okay for your day, something to start or end your day with the opposite of a doom scroll, which I guess you could also listen to this in the middle of the day, but That doesn’t really flow to say something to start or end or have in the middle of the day.

It’s just a little bit of okay for your day to listen to at whatever time of day you would like. Now, sometimes these okay things are more observations or anecdotes. And sometimes when I am inspired, they end up being more of a pep talk. And that’s obviously, given the title, what I have for you today.

Today’s message is for people who are nervous about something. Scared about something. Mostly for people who are, mostly for people who are scared to try something or to do something they haven’t done before. To make the first move and ask someone out to… write something and put it out there to make a podcast or apply for a job or to just do something that they’ve been wanting to do but fear that they can’t because they haven’t done it before because that’s not how they see themselves because that’s not how other people see them.

It is a thought that I had when I was in the middle of an overthinking spiral. I was double, triple, quadruple thinking myself just into oblivion, picking this thing apart until it was nothing, and until I felt like I was nothing.

And the thought is this, while you’re over here overthinking, wondering whether or not something is good enough. Or it’s the right time for you to do it. There’s someone out there who is just doing it. The smartest, most capable people I know are often stuck in that loop of thinking and overthinking, of moving beyond normal self criticism into self defeat.

And stupid people, people with marginal talent, are out there just doing it and not thinking twice. Now, is that me saying that that’s a good thing? No. Is that me saying that your idea is automatically great? No. No, I have no idea. But it certainly can’t be worse than some of the things out there. It really can’t.

Am I saying that we should just stop critically thinking about what we do and the potential impacts we could have on ourselves? our lives, the people and the world around us now. And by infringing on the trademarked phrase owned by Nike, I certainly hope not. Thinking is great. I do it all the time. One of my favorite things.

And sometimes I just overthink something. When I could just be doing it and learning as I go. I think about this especially in the sphere of writing, where people will reach out to me and say, I want to be a writer. I want to start a podcast. I want to write a book. I want to start freelance writing. And as my friend Kate Bear, a poet, says, Nobody cares if you write or not, except you.

You’re the only one. Nobody cares about your dreams the way you do. Nobody cares about your goals the way you do. Nobody cares about your secret aspirations the way you do because nobody knows your secret aspirations. Nobody is watching from the wings and hoping you fall on your face and if they are, frankly, they’re a loser because they are in the wings waiting for someone else to fail.

That’s weird. That is loser behavior if I’ve ever seen it. Stupid people don’t think twice. As a thought, as a mantra, is both an invitation to pause and perhaps think twice, if you haven’t, and permission for you to go forth and, and think once or twice, and just do something. Today or tomorrow or next week, nobody cares whether or not you do it, except you.

So do it. Or don’t. And think once. Maybe twice. Three at the max. Four might be too many. I honestly don’t know, but you’ll know when you should be thinking more, unless you’re stupid. Man, oh man. Oh boy. I don’t know if this was a pep talk or not, guys, but I certainly hope it was at least not, not a pep talk.

I hope it wasn’t the opposite of a pep talk. I hope it got ya, I hope it put a little bit of pep in your step. We make it’s going to be okay with you, with our listeners. You can always send us your okay things. You can email them to us and you can either record a voice memo and attach it to the email or you can just write out the email and we will read it for you.

The email is IGTBO at feelingsand. co. This is an independent podcast. So you listening, is so wonderful. Sharing it with somebody helps support our show. Rating and reviewing it wherever you’re listening helps our show. We are an independent podcast being made by an independent podcast company called Feelings Co.

Where all we do, all day, is feel things. It’s just a little feelings factory that we’re in. Just factory sounds. More feelings! Coming through! What kind of feelings we got today? Okay ones! Our team here is myself, Marcel Malekebu, Jordan Turgeon, Megan Palmer, Claire McInerny, and Michelle Plantan, and our theme music is by Secret Audio.