It’s Completely Acceptable to Set Boundaries For Your Creative Work
I needed to stop treating writing like my quirky hobby and put my foot down.
I am a people-pleaser. I not only want others to like and accept me, but I also feel the need to bend over backward for the convenience of mere acquaintances instead of standing firm in what I want.
Case in point: one time my boyfriend and I got into an argument while several of his friends were at our apartment. He left. I started crying. This woman I had never met before literally asked me mid-breakdown if I could drive her back to her car. Instead of telling her to call an Uber — which was absolutely an option — I drove her. I put her very minor inconvenience ahead of my extreme personal distress.
To this day, I can’t decide which is worse: that this woman had so little social understanding that she thought it was appropriate to ask me to take her back to her vehicle, or the fact that I thought so little of my own needs that I actually did it.
All that is to say, I’ve never been good at putting my needs ahead of others. As you can imagine, this personality trait doesn’t mesh well with the steep level of self-motivation needed to become a successful writer.
