I overcame my fear of being seen and prioritised chasing my dreams.
MyMentalltd has been an idea for more than two years, and a licensed business for close to two years. But it has only been in the past few months that we’ve begun actively working towards bringing MyMental to life and to the public. In the past few months we have dedicated our undivided time and attention into pushing our ideas beyond fragments of our imagination and making them into a reality. And on the 22nd of April 2024 at 2pm we officially launched as MyMentalltd!
However, since as we aim to build a safe space for everyone to be vulnerable, honest and supportive, why not be the first to do so by exposing my experience of why it took us so long to launch MyMentalltd, and why I feel so especially proud of our progress.
As much as the idea of creating MyMentalltd was exciting, it was equally as stressful and daunting at the thought of all the ‘issues’ that would come with it. More specifically, the issue that I had of putting myself in the public eye, to potentially be criticised, judged or worst of all, to be seen trying, just to fail.
What if I’m seen putting my time and effort into this, just for it to fail? That’s just too embarrassing. I would never be able to live that down.
These are the kind of thoughts that would come to mind, just as I was mustering up the courage to take action.
Where would we even begin? How would I manage running a small business along with everything else? It just wouldn’t be possible.
Two years ago, from my perspective, these were some of the many reasons as to why MyMental should’ve continued being nothing but a dream, why we would have never gone further than fantasising about an impossible reality, and ultimately, why I would’ve continued to let my fears hinder my growth.
However, as I was ignoring my own passions and allowing my fears to dominate my life for months on end, I slowly but surely realised that that wasn’t actually making me any happier. Sure, I felt more comfortable being invisible and feeling protected in the thought that I wouldn’t have to be seen desperately chasing my dreams but… eventually I began wondering … what was ever actually wrong with chasing my dreams? What was ever actually wrong with following my passions? Where actually are these people that are going to ridicule me for trying?
I realised that, even though there will eventually be people who are not supportive and people that will laugh and judge me, I had already brought them to life in my head before they had even begun to exist. And I could not believe that I had began to fear the idea of being seen “chasing my dreams”.
I think that the day that I came to that realisation, was the day that I decided to make a change.
I started by rejecting the idea that it would be embarrassing to chase my dreams and decided that I would rather live a life trying than repeatedly missing precious opportunities. I decided that the experience of running a small business, and the idea of the impact that we could make, however small, would be enough to make the inevitable unsupportive feedback bearable.
And here I am today! Embracing the vulnerability of being seen trying, creating a safe space that allows for vulnerability and chasing my dreams all at once. And I’ve promised to myself that I will continue to do so for as long as I possible can, and for as long as it makes me happy :)
I think that, what was most important for me during this journey was really just distancing myself from the people that I felt so afraid to be judged by and choosing to prioritise myself for once. I hope that this inspires someone to also take the same leap of faith, put themself first and to see the great changes that this will bring.
I believe that moments where we overcome our fears are huge accomplishments that deserve to be celebrated and I would love to hear your stories about a time when you overcame your fear and decided to take control of your life. So make sure to leave a comment down below!
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