I have this grand idea of me writing content that inspires people. Articles that offer clever ideas and insights into how to tackle life's big questions, be it professionally or in general. I know it's a lofty ambition. And I believe it's a worthy goal. After all, I'm forever grateful to all the authors who have put in the time and effort to write the books that have influenced my path.
But here's the thing: Whenever I sit down and write, I will judge everything I create against this ambition. And somehow, my writing never lives up to my expectations. What I come up with often feels mundane when I read it. Some of it I find borderline embarrassing. And that isn't very encouraging. It makes me procrastinate. What's the point?
The problem is that I have this picture of what I want to achieve in my mind. And at the same time, I see what I'm capable of coming up with right now. I tend to block out the process of getting to my goal. Just writing down these words sounds banal and obvious (here we go again ...) And that process includes, first and foremost, writing. Consistently. Without too much judging the outcome. I have to make peace with the fact that the only way to maybe one day write truly great articles will be through writing many articles and posts that probably won't be as inspiring and brilliant as I'd like them to be.
Here's another thing. I tend to rely on my judgement when it comes to assessing my work. It's not like I write a post, put it out there, and then have people telling me that it stinks. Nope. What I've created so far usually didn't make it out into the public in the first place because I'm my own gatekeeper. And a super strict one at that. I would look at my text, compare it to the work of some of my favourite writers and thinkers and go, "not quite there yet." It often feels like miles off.
So, where do I go from here? Here's what I decided. First, I will treat my goals as aspirations and not as a yardstick to judge my current work. Secondly, I will write daily, whether I feel like it or not. I will sit down and write for half an hour, Monday through Sunday. No excuses. I calculated that from now till the end of this year, this would add up to 55.5 hours of writing. That's more than a whole work week. And finally, I will put my writing on my website, even if I feel that it's not yet living up to my ambitions. After all, I'm not forcing anybody to read it. So, here's my process. Will I ever end up where I'd like to be? And does it matter? I'm holding this goal lightly.
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