3 Limiting Beliefs You Need to Give Up to Achieve Your Creative Potential as a Writer
You’re the only person standing in your own way.
Do you often hold yourself back from sharing your views on paper, as you don’t think they add any value?
If someone compliments you on your talents, do you ever feel unworthy and downplay your accomplishments?
Do you usually compare yourself to “more successful” or “more talented” writers?
I’ve been there.
As writers, much of our sense of joy and fulfillment comes from creating and sharing something we love. So self-doubt can be particularly insidious because it stops us from achieving our creative potential.
Personally speaking, my major regret in life is that I spent way too much time feeling inadequate, comparing myself to others, minimizing my efforts and playing small.
All that time is now gone. Wasted.
In hindsight, I could have dared more. Risked more.
But I was afraid.
I know all too well what it’s like to be the only person standing in your way.
This is why today, I want to remind you that the time is now.
I urge you to stop worrying about the result and focus on doing what you love.
Here are three limiting beliefs that stifled my creativity as a writer and I wish I would have ditched earlier.
Thinking that it’s been done before
Ever had an idea that you never pursued because you didn’t think it was innovative enough, only to come across it somewhere else and think: “Damn, that should have been me!”?
Or perhaps you have poems stored on your phone, but can’t bring yourself to press the “share” button?
Being on the sidelines is a frustrating feeling — especially if you’re the one who chose to put yourself in that position.
Take my example.
I’ve been writing poems since I was six but never published anything until I reached the age of 29.
I would tell myself: “Why would anyone want to read my words? I’m no Baudelaire. It’s hardly groundbreaking stuff.”
But the truth is, if you’re waiting to be as groundbreaking as Baudelaire, Poe or Shakespeare to showcase your art, you’re going to be waiting a long time.
Most likely, you’ll end up carrying all that beautiful work of yours to the grave.
That’s not what you want now, is it?
So what if you’re no Shakespeare? And who’s to say we need more Shakespeare and sonnets in our lives? It’s been done already.
Please convince yourself that as long as you have a voice, what you have to say matters. So what if it isn’t exactly new?
There is no such thing as “new.” We’re essentially repeating the same things in a myriad of different ways, all the time. (Case in point: this article and thousands of others on Medium. We’re hardly reinventing the wheel.)
Try to look at it differently.
Perhaps, someone really needed to hear what you had to say today — and instead of picking up a book and hearing it from Baudelaire, they came on Medium and heard it from you. It’s the message that counts — and you delivered it.
Stop trying to be stylistically and thematically different and focus on getting the message out instead. Sometimes, keeping the formula simple works best (see The Beatles’ lyrics for proof).
Also, stop letting your unrealistic expectations hold you back.
So what if you won’t be quoted in the history books or invent a new style of prose? Never say never, of course — but at the end of the day, it’s not your goal.
If your creative work has helped even just one person today, or you’ve sparked a fire in someone and made them think, then you’ve done your job.
Dream big, but start small — and remember that whether it’s been said or done before is irrelevant.
Worrying about criticism or rejection
Impostor Syndrome is common, both in the classroom and in the workplace. After all, we grew up in a society where our sense of self-worth is determined by validation from external sources and we’re pitted against each other in a grading system.
I still struggle with that critical voice that says stuff like: “Oh but look at X, she’s so talented!” or “Y owns a house at my age — and what about me?”
But you know what?
We should accept that we will never be able to get rid of that voice completely (we’re not robots), so let’s use it to our advantage. A dose of fear and pressure can push us to do better and strive to improve the quality of our work.
However, we cannot let that voice run our lives and keep us locked in an inauthentic place.
The best thing you can do to let go of this limiting belief is simply to expose yourself to what scares you and just go for it!
I don’t mean it in a big sense, like quitting your job. Although you certainly can.
I mean: you should always say “yes” to inspiration any time you are presented with the opportunity. Those are the little choices that add up to changing your life.
For example, share your creative ideas at that meeting, even if it terrifies you. Sing in the shower if you have to. Scribble that thought down, even if it might not amount to anything more than that.
It’s simple.
The more you say “yes” to inspiration and the things that make you happy, the closer you get to your authentic self.
The more aligned you are with your true self, the more satisfied and happy you’ll be with your writing — and the less you’ll care about others’ opinions. In fact, you will enjoy creating so much that the focus will naturally shift from the outcome to the process itself.
When you say “no” to inspiration, you are saying “yes” to fear.
Every time you want to speak up but don’t, or every time you plan to start working on that piece, but get sidetracked by others’ posts social media — those are the choices that keep you stuck in a creative grey area of comparison and doubt.
Push yourself. Dare to broadcast your thoughts, and you’ll be amazed by the results.
Thinking that no one cares what you have to say
Funnily enough, this contradicts the point above — if someone didn’t care, why would they bother criticizing you? Alas, limiting beliefs are not always logical.
Here is my story of how I overcame this misconception.
For most of my life, I was too shy to broadcast my words with the public. I would start blogs on different topics and then shut them down. I would write lyrics and poems and they would never see the light.
For a decade I lived in London, a fiercely competitive and career-oriented place. I was conditioned to have career ambitions that did not align with my creative purpose.
If people asked me what I did, I would say “I work in marketing, but my passion is to write” instead of simply “I’m a writer.” I identified with my job and felt almost shame in loving something so futile and useless in the “real world” as writing. I saw making art as a whim, a luxury.
I kept thinking: why bother wasting energy into a creative project that no one will ever care to read about?
Well, of course no one cared — because no one had a clue what was on my mind!
How could anyone have known or listened to what I had to say when I was not sharing anything in the first place?
As time went by, I became more frustrated and miserable. I had all these ideas and aspirations inside of me that needed an outlet. I couldn’t bring myself to channel them. At times, I felt like I would implode.
So, little by little, I took a chance.
Firstly, I moved to Berlin — a less status-driven city than London and far less expensive, where there are tons of creative people pursuing their passion. This environment inspired me.
Then, I started publishing my poems on Instagram under a pseudonym. Surprisingly, some people liked and appreciated them. They supported my work. Side note: if you’re not keen on the idea of sharing your art (yet), my advice is to find yourself a moniker and start sharing your work!
Next, I joined a fiction writing workshop. For the first time, I had to share my stories with a group of strangers: a terrifying and exhilarating experience that I never knew I needed, as a writer.
Finally, I became a writer on Medium.
Have I amassed thousands of followers on social media?
Actually no — but it’s not about that. What I got from sharing my work on different channels is far more valuable. Knowing there is an audience that cares about what I have to say, gave me the boost that I needed to continue writing.
You shouldn’t place all our self-worth on external validation, but feedback is important and any positive comment can stir you on.
One small leap of faith to the next, fast-forward to a year later and I’ve made some big life changes.
I decided to reorganize my life around my creative pursuits. I’ve switched from a full-time office job to a marketing consultancy role, so I can make time for the projects I am passionate about.
I have the time to write bout things I care about, which is a dream come true. That’s why I’m constantly coming up with ideas about what to write on Medium and feeling the excitement of being in “flow state” — something that had eluded me in the last few years.
I’m finally on a creatively fulfilling path — and it all started because I pushed myself beyond these core limiting beliefs.
Looking back, it’s a shame to see how long I let the fear of embarrassment and rejection hold me back from my creative potential as a writer.
Are you ready to live a creatively fulfilling life?
Be brave.
