Are you busy but never really working? Are you always “doing” but never “finishing?” Do you clock out and have a hard time remembering what it is you actually completed that day? 

Are you just being busy to avoid being rejected?

I have a bad habit of being “busy” to avoid showing people the thing that will expose who I am as a business person, or personality, or entrepreneur. If I work hard on my website, tweaking it until it’s perfect, I never actually have to release it to the world. If I keep rewriting my email copy but never send it, no one will ever unsubscribe. If I keep working on my next Instagram post, I don’t have to face the engagement (or lack thereof). 

If I never stop doing, I am never done... and never have to face potential criticism.

I was recently talking to a friend of mine. He is an artist. He paints beautiful portraits and landscape scenes. I asked him, “how do you know when your painting is done?” He looked at me and simply said, “it’s done when I stop painting.” You see, he could paint it forever. As long as it’s in process, no one can say it’s not a good piece of art because it’s not done. But, when he finishes, he has to show the world what he created.

Often, I don’t stop “painting” so I don’t have to show the world what I'm working on. There is always one more guitar part to add. Always one more sentence to rewrite. Always one more scene to color correct. Always one more brush stroke to complete. 

What are you “painting” today? I bet it’s good enough to show. 

Are you being “busy” to avoid the potential of being rejected? Today, release your art to the world. 

Put down the brush and move on to the next thing.