I swear…I don’t swear.
Or at least I really tried to avoid swearing up until recently.
The temptation to be “cool” was strong for me in high school. Many of the people who swore also carried a confidence, which was very attractive. In an attempt to build up my perceived confidence I adopted some of the language, and I quickly noticed how swearing limited my creative thinking; every time I had an impulse to swear, my brain was looking for a shortcut. It became easier to substitute swears for carefully chosen words to describe my emotions. It felt wrong. Instantly, I noticed how uninteresting conversations could become with someone who was constantly swearing.
So I decided to change.
For many years, I avoided swearing, choosing instead the path of creativity with my words. It was a great decision.
Yet now, I very intentionally chose to include the word shit in my domain name.
What Changed?
The story of an unlikely entrepreneur in Chris Guillebeau’s book The $100 Startup forever changed my perspective about professionalism in business. Notice how he describes this entrepreneur, Naomi Dunford:
“….in fact, a lot of people who stumbled upon her website were immediately turned off by the coarse language and her distinct ‘call it like I see it’ style. Article titles included ‘What to Do When You’re Scared Shitless’ and ‘Moral of the Story: Topless Edition (with Photos).'”
Page 164
This story shook my world. Apparently you don’t have to be a goody-two-shoes to attract the right clients and have fun with your business. Instead, you have to be unafraid of living authentically. Huh! My perfectionist brain took a while to process that one.
Since reading about Naomi, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling that I would never achieve a feeling of total freedom while hanging on to the fear that I would mess up at any moment. Limiting how much I swore had become a way of feeding my fear and holding me back.
Don’t Hold Back
Using SHIT in my domain name feels like I’m standing up to my nagging fear of failure. By taking a fun little risk in my domain name – the first thing anyone sees when visiting my site – I am setting the standard for my key theme: how to make every moment count. Step one: let go of the things holding you back.
Personally, perfectionism often holds me back the most. Swearing is the counter to that and terrifies me. So here I am – facing my fears and being imperfect.
Every time I read enjoytheshitoutoflife.com, I can’t help but crack a huge grin. It makes me so happy knowing I actually followed through with it! And that’s what life is really about – doing the things that bring you joy, attracting the right people to you because of the fulfilment you’re experiencing, and then helping each other out and enjoying the shit out of life together!
Mission: accomplished.
