Don’t Listen To Yourself
Now and then, we all have a gush of feeling from within saying “You are not good enough”. I thought of starting a blog in 2018. Since then, I have been having as many days of feeling confident as days of feeling like crap.
One day, I have a parade of ideas rushing through my mind, I jot them all down excitedly and feel like a writer on top of the world. The very next day I feel like, there may be nothing special in me and what I write is just, meh!
My rational brain says “Why would anyone like me?” This is the most daunting question for any beginner who wants to create and serve something authentic to strangers. My rational brain tells me that there is nothing great about my life compared to a zillion content creators on Medium and various blogs.
I have to stop myself from spiraling into this dark hole. Of course, I have nothing special except that I have 20 years of hustling experience and hundreds of unique mini-experiences and most importantly I have the will and interest to share them with the world.
It must count for something, Right?
After years of practice, now I know how to control these emotions and I’ll share what I have learned along the journey of emotional control while I work on my dreams.
- Your brain tells you to quit but you don’t alter your plans
Always remember — You crafted a thought-through plan for a Reason. You mustn’t alter it impulsively, because of bouts of dwindling confidence. This feeling is momentary. You will pass this tunnel and your sanity will meet you on the other side. Until then, don’t alter any plans. you will soon be back to the state of mind in which you felt confident enough to create your success plan.
2. Sample Audience — You thought of becoming a Singer, Writer, YouTuber, etc. based on your inner voice and encouragement from a close network. Consider them the sample audience because only they have visibility of our talent and what we are capable of. No one else knows you yet. When I wrote a few blog posts, I got a handful of my friends writing back to me saying they loved reading my posts! My brain was telling me “So what, a few people who like you, encourage you” but my brain also said, “That’s enough to know that if a larger audience had access, they may like it too”. If not, no regrets. Try again.
Don’t discard the encouragement coming your way
3. Don’t get Swooned by others’ achievements ! They have got where they are working in different circumstances. You may see someone who started recently but achieved greater heights. You can do it too! Don’t compare your circumstances with others. No two people have the same circumstances.
Don’t let them scare you off from starting.
4. Don’t be scared of Trial and error — Get yourself out there and try things out till you get it right. Many bloggers have put content out, saw it not working, and changed it multiple times over, till they made it.
It’s all about bettering yourself
5. Eliminate fear of the unknown — Until you see what is out there, you will forever fear it. Most successful people on this planet have got themselves out there, up for critique way too early. They have eliminated the fear of the unknown and hence they go on bravely.
6. Power of proportion — Don’t judge yourself too much. The likes and reactions are directly proportional to the exposure your content gets. If you reach a hundred people and twenty like your work, imagine how many people will like you, when you reach a million. I am yet to overcome this and struggle with it often.
There are always better days ahead. You may have challenging days, gloomy days, or good days, there are always better days ahead.
