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"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed," Ernest Hemingway
Are you a writer? An artist? A bookkeeper? An architect or a lawyer, perhaps? Imposter syndrome, self-doubt, feeling mediocre, procrastination, fearing the unknown, name it! Every one of those debilitating beliefs has consumed you at some point.
Either you struggle hard or naturally withdraw from striving.
They all got on my nerves; some I had suppressed, others resurfaced once acknowledged.
I learned the antidote to every debilitating belief is doing your best and enjoying the best of both worlds. The hidden translation is a commitment to your dreams and yourself.
A dear lady-lawyer friend dropped me a lengthy article about John Steinbeck last night; 'twas one I needed because those setbacks held me and kept me ashore.
Of course, I know who Steinbeck is. Who doesn't know this genius writer? We discussed him during the Literature course in college. I read a few stenciled copies of his work but never got hold of his books, so his pieces were not on my bookshelf.
A male lawyer friend lent me a book, Of Mice and Men, a few years back, and he said that this author writes well with simple words. It was true; my Lit professor was literarily in love with him.
I read the article last night and realized that impostor syndrome creeps up on approximately 80% of us. It's crippling once you let it.
You have so many excuses to avoid doing the things you love. For me, it's writing because I feel I don't compose well. (But since this is my way of life now, the means to put food on the table, I have to sit in front of my laptop and bleed. Thank you, Hemingway, for that reality!)
And then, after a month of setting the write-up aside, I would skim through it and tell myself, OMG, did I create that?
Another is reading; I have many books bookmarked on my e-reader. For Bird-by-Bird, The Elements of Style, On Writing, The Power of Influence, Ego is the Enemy and others, I browsed the table of contents, read the meaty parts, and highlighted everything else.
Should I blame myself for granting the sloth takeover? Not all the while, but it causes my unproductivity. Worse, I felt inferior, and worse, I wanted to seek another route. Writing is too much for me!
But Steinbeck also suffered from self-doubt. Should I feel superior about this? No! I want to establish a variation.
Ask me why.
No one had been published in my family, not even a writer, but it didn't hurt to start a legacy.
My 18-year-old daughter is taking Creative Writing next year. Was I influential? Maybe I showed her that path when she was little. I introduced her to reading, and she wrote her first unfinished novel when she was 9. So, I suppose we have a trial. Also, I'm looking forward to another storyteller with my three-year-old.
Every time, it's a bunch of challenges. Writing doesn't occur naturally every day, but sometimes, I wake up with ideas shrieking to be put into written words.
Before succumbing to slumber at night, I had resolutions for my manuscripts, including two unpublished chapters. Subsequently, I felt giddy about having an impressive ending.
It's not all effortless; writing requires tenacity and persistence, like any other job.
When indolence gets me nowadays, I don't berate myself anymore. I play all the positive talks.
It stimulates you to have positive affirmation before you start your day and propels you to be better every day. To keep debilitating beliefs at bay, keep a daily mantra with you.
Pause if you may, but strive when matters get bumpy.
If it seems I arrived at a dead-end, either I drill a hole and make my course.
There's always a countermeasure to every obstacle; I can find one or two.
Every day, I am open to learning and envisioning what works and what doesn't, which means I'm becoming more decisive and wiser.
Defeats are part of winning; I have to stand firm.
Setbacks are fleeting.
You've gone this far; keep moving forward.
Be flexible. That's the way to grapple with all these.
It is invariably best to perform the works that make your heart exuberant.
Writing has been there with me when I had no one to tell stories inside my head.
I read because that's the only way to write better.
I am not the finest writer out there, and I am not sure how many read my writing from the 7 Billion people in the world, but one thing I am confident of:
No one writes the way I do.
I am a better writer today than I was yesterday.
I am here, and I am staying!
So, wrapping up, I am leaving you these questions:
1. Are you happy with the way things are in your life?
2. What makes you rise in the morning?
3. What do you want to prove to yourself with whatever you do?
4. Do you pat yourself on the back for every job well done?
5. What makes your world revolve aside from money?
It's okay to doubt yourself, but do not let it paralyze you and recoil to attain the progress you crave.
Fear of the unknown, self-doubts, procrastination, and other debilitating beliefs will cloud your thinking process, but you can always reverse their effect on you.
The antidote is your commitment to do your best every time. To make yourself proud, even if others cannot acknowledge it.
Go on! Take that antidote, now!
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