I gave myself a goal — to write at least one post a week for a year — and I find myself struggling to keep up. When you think about it as 52 articles, it doesn’t seem like all that much. How hard could it be, right?
I think anyone who decides to dedicate themselves to something like this is going to run into times they don’t want to write, times they don’t think they have time to write, times they doubt themselves, times they can’t seem to put words to paper, times they would rather do anything else other than put their thoughts into words. Not a single one of these are “good reasons” to quit. They are all excuses getting in the way of our goals.
I don’t have time
Even before I posted my blog, I spent weeks brainstorming idea after idea. I thought for sure I would have enough material to fall back on if I found myself with a mental block. Man, was I wrong.
The weeks come and go, in what seems like a blur. There is time dedicated to work, there are hours at the gym, there are minutes with the ones we care about, there are seconds to relax, and there seems to be very little real-time to accomplish extra goals. Where do we find extra time?
The truth is…there isn’t extra time. If you want to accomplish your goals, you have to understand there will be sacrifices to find extra time. You may have to sacrifice sleep. If you can’t sacrifice sleep, you have to sacrifice relaxation time. You may have to stay in and write when your friends invite you out for a drink. You may have to tell your significant other you have to postpone date night so you can finish something you’ve been working on — even when you know you’re going to go to date night anyway — If it’s a goal worth achieving, figure out what it takes to make it happen.
Why should I keep writing?
I’ve found that most of the things holding me back from writing are internal struggles. Those constant battles we all go through.
There is self-doubt. Does it matter if I write these articles? Does anyone actually read them? What am I actually accomplishing?
There are times when it feels like you don’t have anything original to say. Literally one day after I started brainstorming the topic of this article, I saw another article posted with an incredibly similar title. In my mind I thought, “Well, fuck. There goes that idea.”
I’m glad I didn’t keep that mindset. Even if someone else is writing about the same thing, my thoughts are still original — because they’re mine. They still portray ideas and stories through my own personal lens.
So many distractions
There are times I struggle to be productive in my downtime ( I’m sure I’m the only one). It’s too easy to watch a movie, play on my phone, do anything other than write. Sometimes I find myself sitting, knowing I should do something productive, but I can’t find the motivation to do it. Then, I’m mad at myself for wasting time, so I find something productive to do. That lasts for a little bit until I find myself, continuously, reverting back and allowing the distractions to get the better of me.
Just fucking do it.
Obviously, I decided to write the article anyway — what does it really matter. I talked myself out of being distracted long enough to get my thoughts together, cohesively enough. I intentionally made a point to not read the article with the similar title (at least not until I’d finished writing mine). And I wrote my own thoughts down for people to read.
Who’s to say our ideas aren’t original? Who’s to say something I write doesn’t resonate with someone or give them a bit of hope or simply make their day a little better? Why not just write because I like it?
For anyone to take the time to stop, gather their thoughts, analyze them, and organize them in a cohesive way — it provides better mental focus. Your body rewards you with a solid dose of dopamine. Your muscles relax. There’s a sense of total calmness that comes when you finish.
Know there are going to be times you have unoriginal ideas; and that’s fine. As long as your words are sincere and genuine, your purpose is to altruistic, your message makes people’s lives better — you’ve got plenty of reasons to keep writing.
Next time you don’t feel like writing — or whatever it is you’ve challenged yourself to do — do it anyway. If it really is something that drives you, you won’t have a choice. The need to fulfill your dreams should be too strong. So, do yourself a favor; stay focused and write the damn article.
—
A version of this post was previously published on GoFindYourHappy and is republished here with permission from author.
—
◊♦◊
Have you read the original anthology that was the catalyst for The Good Men Project? Buy here: The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood
◊♦◊
Talk to you soon.
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project and want to join our calls on a regular basis, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—
Photo credit: istockphoto