This morning The Voice of Doom is in my head. Bless it, I know it’s only trying to keep me safe. Every time it sees me stepping out of my comfort zone it shouts. Every time it hears me thinking I’m not sure it calls. The Voice of Doom is ever prepared to warn me about what might go wrong, always ready to make my heartbeat a little more anxiously and put a falter in my step.

Today The Voice Of Doom is joined – as it often is – by the twins; Let’s Do Something Else and How Can We Get Out Of This? They whinge and whine that’s it’s boring; can’t I do it another day? They also give most appealing suggestions of what to do instead.

The twins think they’re being helpful, and sometimes they (and The Voice Of Doom) are. But all three voices are only here this morning, because today is the day I committed to making a start on the job I felt most resistance to on my procrastination list.

Even though I know these voices aren’t helping, I still hear them. Even though I know there’s nothing to be scared of, I feel apprehensive. Even though I promised I would do this today, I keep thinking about what else I could do.

However I’m not giving in. For each and every protest, I answer with a positive that keeps me on track: I can do other things another day. I can make it fun. I’ve been sewing since I was six, if I don’t have the skills I’ll learn on the job.

Negative voices will always be there when we’re stepping out of our comfort zone and we should always listen to them, because sometimes their concerns are well placed. But when they’re simply holding us back from something we need to do, we need to keep reassuring them and get on with our plans.