I had a client last year who hadn't updated her headshot in 8 years.

She knew it was hurting her. She said so herself.

But every time we scheduled the shoot, something came up. A meeting ran long. The timing wasn't right. She wasn't "ready."

We finally connected and I asked her one question:

"What are you really afraid of?"

She was quiet for while and then said:

"What if I get noticed and another company approaches me for a new job with more responsibility/pay … and I let them down?"

I smiled on the inside – that’s what I thought. It’s the thing nobody talks about.

We dress up our fear of success and call it procrastination,  perfectionism, or "I'll do it when the time is right."

But underneath it all is:

• Visibility is terrifying.
• Expectations feel like a trap – what if I don’t meet them?
• Being seen means there's something to lose.

Imposter syndrome doesn't start when you fail - It starts the moment you succeed — and a quiet voice whispers (in my case) “You’re not a real professional photographer"

So we procrastinate, come up with reasons/excuses not to try something.

Every time I've tried a bold new technique in my photography, there's a split second where I think: What if it doesn’t come out well and I look like I don't know what I'm doing with a client?

But I've learned to ask a different question:

What's the worst that could actually happen?

Nine times out of ten, the honest answer is embarrassingly small compared to the story my mind was telling. The image below came from one of those times where for a fleeting moment I thought “what if the image looks horrible”? It turns out it’s one of my favorite shots from the past year.

If you've been putting off something — a headshot, a portfolio update, a pitch, a conversation — that you know would move your career forward…

Don't ask why you haven't done it yet.

Ask what you're really afraid of.

The answer might surprise you.