Most people do not struggle with a lack of potential. They struggle with a lack of willingness to share it. We hold ourselves back all the time. We stay quiet when we should speak up. We keep ideas to ourselves that could help other people. We hide creative work because we fear criticism. We convince ourselves our writing, art, business idea, or contribution is not quite ready yet. On the surface, holding back appears to be a confidence problem. In reality, it is often a fear problem. Fear of rejection. Fear of failure. Fear of standing out. Fear of discovering what happens when we finally put ourselves out there. The tragedy is that the gifts, ideas, and experiences we withhold cannot help anyone while they remain hidden. Creativity only creates value when it moves beyond the creator and into the world.

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Why We Hold Ourselves Back

I used to run cross-country in High School. I wasn’t very good.

OK, I was awful.

But one thing I could do really well was give it my all if I could see the finish line.

In the last 30 seconds, I could expend enough energy to quadruple my speed.

I always had enough left in the tank to have a nice smile when I emerged from the woods to the straightaway.

But my reserve tank was never met with accolades. In fact, my coach always scolded me for it.

Having more in the tank at the end meant I wasn’t giving it my all for the majority of the race. My time, and my position against the other runners, reiterated my problem.

While I enjoyed being able to sprint at the end, it wasn’t helping me win.

The Fear Behind Self-Censorship

Self-censorship is the simple act of holding yourself back.

The reasons are endless:

• Fear of what others might think of you
• Fear of standing out
• Fear of public speaking
• Fear of being wrong
• Fear of repeated hurts from the past
• Fear of hard work
• Fear of being found out a fraud
• Fear of being uncomfortable

In all those fears, the tendency is to hide.

And make no mistake, people hide all the time right in plain sight.

People are hiding when they turn down an opportunity.

People are hiding when they choose to be alone rather than go out with a group.

People are hiding when they self-deprecate and play it off as a joke.

Sadly, people spend much of their life holding themselves back and wondering why they’re not further ahead.

The Problem With Keeping Everything Inside

The Three Gorges Dam in China is the largest dam in the world. The dam holds back 5 trillion gallons of water.

It would be the equivalent of capturing and storing all the water produced by a major hurricane and then some.

But the Three Gorges Dam has nothing on us.

We actively withhold parts of ourselves from other people.

We hold back our heart and mind; and all the valuable, precious, helpful, encouraging, and inspiring information it contains.

Our words can lift people out of dark places and set them on mountain tops.

In one breath we can illuminate something so complicated that it appears simple to the masses.

But we resist. We fight it. We choose to be fake over being authentic. We seek fitting in rather than standing out.

Creativity Is Meant to Flow

Our creative talents, art, writing, business endeavors, and acts of service can change lives and transform communities. The keyword in all of this is can.

The Three Gorges Dam can release the water. It can bring life to people and nature downstream. It can bring destruction. But if the dam stays closed, the water doesn’t do a thing for anyone.

The way in which a dam is recharged and filled up from water upstream and rain events is the same way we are filled up.

Other people pour their lives into us. We read and explore, grow and mature. Our dams are filling up to the brim more and more each day we interact with the world and people around us.

A good dam however doesn’t just contain water. Good dams release the right amount of water at the right time. Never too much as to cause destruction downstream, but never too little, as to backup and damage the land upstream or restrict life giving water downstream.

Similarly, people can become consumers only rather than creators.

If all we do is consume content (books, videos, audio lessons, courses) and we never create, we’re no better than a broken dam.

Why Sharing Imperfect Work Matters

Many people assume confidence comes before action.

More often, confidence comes after action.

We share something small.

We survive.

We learn.

We improve.

Then we share again.

The goal is not perfection.

The goal is contribution.

Final Thoughts

While there are countless reasons why we hold ourselves back, there only needs to be one reason to let our creativity flow:

The world does not benefit from the creativity we keep hidden.

It benefits from the work we are willing to share.

The goal is not to release everything at once.

The goal is simply to stop holding everything back.

If you must fear something, fear the possibility of spending years protecting gifts that were meant to be given away.