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Stop Making Excuses
It was tough, but it was time to stop making excuses and write the book I’d dreamed of writing since I was a child.
For as long as I can remember I’ve wanted to be a published author and, like many other, have a number of unfinished manuscripts dotted about my office, not to mention those that have been binned over the years!
Excuses
Terrified of failing, and if I’m honest about the work involved, I placed one excuse after the other in my path. I ensured no manuscript was ever finished, let alone redrafted and improved.
First school, then university, then work and eventually family life were just the avoidance tactics I needed to never get on and finish the job!
That changed when someone recommended I read Anne Lamott’s book, Bird by Bird. What a game-changer that was for me.
Bird by Bird
Anne tells the story of how her brother had a school project on birds to write. He left it to the last minute and then panicked about how he could possibly write a paper in one night.
Anne’s father sat down with him and told him not to get his knickers in a twist, but simply take it one bird at a time. He’d eventually get to the end.
This was the lesson I needed to make a mindset shift. I finally understood that I had to stop making excuses and write my book, one bird at a time.
Later, when I began my entrepreneurial journey, a colleague recommended another book to me.
The Slight Edge by Jeff Olsen. This book may appeal to those who don’t want to write, but have the same issues around making excuses!
Giving yourself the edge!
Olsen’s mantra is: it’s easy to do something, and it’s easy not to.
I say that to myself almost daily. When there’s a job I really don’t want to do, either because it’s difficult or because something more pleasurable beckons, I say it to myself and it has the desired effect!
This is important, and will have a profound impact on your ambitions, both professional and personal. If you want something, you must decide if it’s important enough to put the work in. If it is, Olsen says you must do a little every day. And I agree.
For us authors, it’s the difference between writing one more paragraph or one more page.
In my publishing life it might be making be making a phonecall. Either way, they are small actions that will get me to my end goal.
And when I achieve that goal, I set aside one more limiting belief.
Limiting beliefs
Limiting beliefs get in the way of everything we want to achieve in life, not just your writing.
Beliefs such as:
- A lack of confidence
- Others telling you it’s a waste of time
- Your mental health
- Your physical health
- The job is too complicated
- People will hate my work
- It takes too long
- You don’t have time
- You lack focus
Will keep hold you back from reaching your potential.
Do you tell yourself things like this? If you do, you are successfully putting up a barricade between you and your ambitions. It’s what keeps you in your comfort zone.
If you want to stop making excuses in your life, you must understand the belief systems that hold you back. Once you’ve identified them, you can move forward.
That’s when you’re ready to move out of your comfort zone.
This isn’t easy, I understand, but it’s essential if you want more for yourself, whether it be getting that promotion, learning a new language or even finishing the book you’ve dreamed of writing.
By changing your mindset and casting excuses aside, everything is doable!
On the right is Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfield and is the story that made me want to be a writer.
One of my own limiting beliefs was that if I was a bad speller or struggled with grammar, I couldn’t be a writer.
I’ve always felt an affinity with Streatfield because she too was a dreadful speller, but it didn’t stop her!
If this article was useful, you’ll love:
If you are trying to write your novel, but lack the confidence or self-belief to see it through to the end, then join me in Unlock Your Creative Block.
It's the only programme that gets to the heart of why you can't finish your book, even though it's what you want to do more than anything else in the world.
Emma Dhesi writes women’s fiction. She began writing seriously while a stay at home mum with 3 pre-school children.
By changing her mindset, being consistent and developing confidence, Emma has gone from having a collection of handwritten notes to a fully written, edited and published novel.
Having experienced first-hand how writing changes lives, Emma now helps beginner writers find the time and confidence to write their first novel.
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