I can’t do [noun] because [proper noun] will think I am [adjective].

Something popped unbidden into your mind for “noun,” “proper noun,” and “adjective,” right?

So let’s get some advice from this mad libs exercise.

What’s the noun? What’s that thing you think you can’t do? Does part of you really really want to do it?

Who is the proper noun? Who lurks in the back of your mind as the person or institution who will judge you when you do the noun? For me, it’s someone random who I’ve rarely ever spoken to—not at all in recent years—and yet somehow my brain elected this person for position of Chief Judge of Me. I don’t like it. Consider whether you have such a person or group of persons sitting scowling at your choices in your imagination.

What’s adjective? What do you imagine “proper noun” will think about you? 

So now you have your therapeutic mad libs. I can’t do [noun] because [proper noun] will think I am [adjective].

Some questions to ask:

Putting everything else aside, what’s one tiny step you could take towards [noun] today? How would that feel to you and you alone?

Would you change lives with [proper noun] if given the chance today? Are you absolutely sure? 

Is [adjective] so bad? Would you rather never have [noun] than risk the possibility of being seen as [adjective]?

I don’t know about you, but this kind of thing often makes me go “OH.”