My sixteen-year-old sat across from me last night and started saying things about himself I recognized immediately.

I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know why they won't hire me. This should be easy.

He's been applying for jobs for almost a year. I've been working on fear for almost forty.

Neither of us got it right last night.

That's the part I keep coming back to. Not that fear shows up. I knew that. It's that it shows up wearing whatever name fits the room. His name was discouragement. Mine was failing to fix it for him. Same thing underneath. And knowing that didn't help me in the moment one bit.

This episode isn't about beating fear. I've been in too many rooms where someone tells you how to do that. This is just me saying it out loud, what it actually looks like when you're 54 and you still get it wrong, and what it looks like when you decide that's okay.

🎧 No Stage, Just a ChairA podcast for people figuring it out as they go: building honest brands, real decisions, and work that feels like theirs.

Before You Listen:

Is there someone in your life whose fear you've been absorbing without naming it that way?

What have you been calling fear that keeps you from seeing what it actually is?

When did you last give yourself permission to not have the answer?