Are you also stuck because of this surprisingly simple reason?

Ever felt looking over a massively successful work that you yourself would have created it equally well?

Ever felt that you yourself would have delivered the same level of talk and had written the same kind of a novel?

I guess that like me you too would have felt so.

And maybe then you also would have felt that people get fond of just average or above average things…So if you had simply released your work, you would have made an amazing splash.

Or you might have got this question in your head: Were these people simply lucky that they got so high popularity for their works?

Maybe they would be having great connections, right?

So far being lucky is concerned, well, I believe in the oft-repeated wisdom that the harder you work, the better your luck gets.

And so far having great connections part is concerned?

Maybe yes, maybe no. But that’s not so relevant.

What’s the reason for their success, I think, is their bravery and courage.

Yes, their courage to put forth their work in open for public scrutiny and thus exposing themselves to get criticised or ridiculed.

So when we say that we too could have made such a painting, yes, chances are that we're right.

But a likely reason that we're unknown and are still stuck up with the mediocrity is that we probably don’t have the courage to open ourselves for criticism.

And if this being the case, it gets amply clear that we don’t lack talent. It’s not that we lack skills or resources or anything else.

The cold truth is that we lack courage to put our work in open because we're scared of criticism, getting ridiculed, and staking our reputation.

Agreed, that guy who wrote shitty novels and subsequently gained massive popularity would have been far less talented than us.

But, unlike you and me, he would be having the courage to face criticism. He would have been ready to risk his reputation, and this is the main difference between us.

Sure, we could have written or painted or spoken far better than him, but we chose not to venture out of those secure and unknown territories because we were scared of criticism.

There can be other reasons why we still haven’t grabbed the success we dream about, but our fear probably is the most potent of them.

So, next time if you go through a creative work and feel that you too would have done it equally well, ask yourself: Was it your fear because of which you didn’t go forth to ship it?

If your answer is yes, then what you need more is courage, rather than better skills or talents to make a splash.

Maybe the success you dream about can be yours if you just get a bit more courageous.

Maybe you already possess the skills and resources you think are required to make you successful – but it’s your fear which could have you anchored with the mediocrity.

Go figure. And get to the beautiful (or hurting) truth. I have centred my slender powers at this!