The one promise you should make to yourself as a writer
You have to promise yourself one thing throughout this entire process of reaching your writing goal whether that’s freelancing or full-time content writing, etc.: you won’t judge yourself.
We all have to start somewhere. But it seems like many people hold themselves back due to:
- Feeling inferior
- Feeling less experienced
- Feeling like they have nothing worth saying since everyone around them seems to have so many intelligent things to say
- Feeling like no one will care
- Lack of self confidence
The list goes on. If you identify with any of these, this one’s for you. I wrote a similar blog post about when you feel like you should give up writing, but I wanted to revisit this lesson.
You gotta start somewhere
I can say with full confidence that my first blog posts years ago on my first blog ever were not good. I know this because I:
- Didn’t have an audience in mind so I was just writing to the void
- Just wrote about anything I wanted so there was no clear direction to my blog
- Was wordy
- Didn’t format my blog posts to provide a better reader experience
…I could go on.
BUT
I had to start somewhere—we all do. You don’t learn unless you do.
We can’t learn how to drive a car unless we get behind the wheel.
We can’t learn how to ride a bike unless we put our helmet on and start pedaling.
We can’t learn how to change a car tire unless we get our jack and lug wrench and go for it.
So why wouldn’t this apply to our writing?
The self-talk that kills
When you hear the old saying that you’re your worst critic, it’s true. We’re hard on ourselves because we don’t want to look weak or unskilled or have people look down on us because we’re just not there yet.
But these insecurities and the self-talk that involves convincing yourself that nobody will notice you is what ultimately holds you back. Yes, other people going after the same goal as you may be more experienced…but they had to start from zero also 🙂
I’m very aware how there are other writers out there just like me who have a larger audience, who make more money, who have bigger platforms, who have more years of experience than me…but that doesn’t stop me. I don’t judge myself because I know I have something to offer and I believe in myself.
And there will always be someone out there with more experience than you. But that’s a GREAT thing. You get to learn from them!
Believing
You just have to believe in yourself, don’t care about other people’s opinions, and stay focused on your why. That may be easier said than done, but I’m telling you, your why will truly carry you throughout all of the setbacks, frustration, self-doubt, and temptations to quit.
The moment you set yourself free from self-judgment, you have a wide open world of possibilities for you. It is then where you allow yourself to try different things, take risks, put yourself out there, meet new people, ask questions, and experience true progress. If you’re constantly holding yourself back out of fear of what others may think, you can only get so far.
What to do now
So now that you’re feeling more confident than ever (right?), what do you do now?
It’s that simple: you do.
Set small goals for yourself. That could include:
- Comment on five LinkedIn posts per day.
- Publish one original tweet every other day.
- Publish one original blog post per month.
- Create an Instagram account.
Small. Baby steps are always the way to go. Don’t feel like you have to take on every social media platform at once, like you have to amass thousands of followers in a week, or anything that feels too big. Break your goals up into teeny tiny pieces.
What will be your baby step? Share below. Believe in yourself, don’t judge, and enjoy the process.
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