Yes, it’s true. Writing stigmas are like the plague for writer confidence.
What’s a stigma? It’s basically a mark of “disgrace” around a situation, person or circumstance. In this case, being a writer.
Some of the writing stigmas you have probably heard over and over again throughout your life:
- Writers are broke
- Writing isn’t a real job
- Writing is a hobby
- You can’t make money as a writer
- Selling books is hard
- Writers don’t make money
And I’m sure you’ve heard many others as well.
These stigmas, whether you know it or not, could be a hidden block that’s stopping you from writing and/or finishing your novel.
Why?
Because if you believe any of these things, consciously or unconsciously, it’s unlikely you’re going to put in the work required to finish.
It’s like if you have a crush on someone who you know doesn’t like you back… are you really going to put all your effort into winning that person over? Probably not, because you know it’s a lost cause.
Your beliefs are powerful and they can either help or hinder you.
So if you hold any of the writing stigmas as beliefs (aka: truths) right now, that could be a huge reason why you’re holding yourself back.
It’s not worth putting the effort into something if you believe you won’t get the results you desire. Now, of course, writing and creating for the sake of it is also important, but that’s a whole other topic.
Here’s how Hidden Block #2 shows up in your life:
- You avoid your writing
- You never start
- You never finish anything
- You never go all the way and hit publish
- You’re unwilling to invest money to further your writing career
- You never market or sell your books
If you’re starting to notice that you may have Hidden Block #2, don’t fret. It’s totally fixable.
Here’s how:
- Daily Mindset Work
Yes, good ‘ol mindset work, on the daily, is the best way to move past these nonsense writing stigmas and change the things you believe about writing and yourself as a writer.
I’ve been doing daily mindset work since August 2015 and my entire life is better for it. I’ve changed so many BS things I used to believe. I’ve achieved so many goals I used to think were “impossible.” And I’ve created so much confidence in myself as a writer and as a person.
Here’s what my daily mindset practice currently looks like:
1. Freestyle journaling immediately upon waking
As soon as I wake up in the morning, while I’m still in bed, I immediately grab my notebook and write whatever comes out for one to three pages. This is what I call “clearing the mind clutter.”
There’s so much nonsense that clogs our minds and blocks us from the good thoughts, ideas and feelings. This helps to release them.
2. Meditation
After that, I meditate for five to 15 minutes. Each day is different, but for the most part, I sit on my couch, put on some meditation music and then I just close my eyes and pay attention to my breathing.
It’s a simple way to release resistance and create connection with myself and the Universe.
3. Visualize
Once I’ve meditated, I’m in a more feel-good space, so it’s the perfect time to visualize. I only do this for about four to five minutes, because doing it for too long makes it hard for me to stay connected to the feeling of what I’m imagining.
A few minutes is the perfect amount of time.
Some days I imagine specific things I want; other days I just see myself smiling and being happy. Both versions create the same result.
4. Your Hidden Mind
Once I’ve done my meditating and visualization, I listen to one to three audios from Your Hidden Mind, a memory reconsolidation and reprogramming system I subscribe to.
I swear by this system, and I know for a fact it’s the main reason I no longer procrastinate in my life. (You can watch an interview I did with the YHM team here).
5. Tapping (aka: EFT)
Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) or “tapping” as it’s commonly known, is a simple way to release stuck emotions and energy, which frees you up to then create the beliefs and emotions you actually desire to have.
I love Brad Yates for this (and he has tons of free videos on YouTube here).
Unless I’m feeling like I need something specific, I tend to choose my daily tapping video(s) by closing my eyes and scrolling through his endless list of videos, until I energetically feel like my finger is on the video I need. And then I click on it and go through it with him.
I will say that I didn’t start my mindset practice doing all these things. I’ve built up to this practice over many years of being consistent and tuning into what I need on a daily basis to feel my best.
When I first started, my practice was simpler:
- Freestyle journaling immediately upon waking
- Meditation
- Visualization
You can choose the mindset practice that works best for you. The point isn’t what you do every day, it’s that you do it every day.
- Reprogram Your Beliefs
As one of my favorite people in the world (Abraham-Hicks) always says, “A belief is just a thought you keep thinking.”
And if a belief is just a thought you keep thinking, then you can change what you believe by changing how you think.
See the section above on creating a daily mindset practice for more on how to do this.
- Look For Examples to the Contrary
Look for examples of writers who are super successful doing what you want to be doing. There are plenty of them out there and more emerging every day.
The more you can find examples of your new beliefs, the easier it will be to believe them.
You get to decide what’s true for you, every day and in every area of your life. Always.
So you can either decide that these writing stigmas are true and allow them to keep blocking you from writing and/or finishing your novel (or other writing project).
Or, you can change what you believe and look for evidence to support those new beliefs.
The choice is always yours.
Oh, and if you’d like to design your own custom mindset practice, be sure to join us in the Storytelling Mastermind.
While mindset doesn’t tie directly into storytelling, it does have everything to do with you being (or not) the writer you dream of being. Mindset is the starting point of EVERYTHING. And that’s why I’ve created a whole section of the Storytelling Mastermind mind member’s site that focuses on improving your mindset and creating new beliefs that actually serve you.
>> GET FULL DETAILS AND SIGN UP FOR THE STORYTELLING MASTERMIND HERE
See you tomorrow for Hidden Block #3… and it’s a doozy!
Dream life or bust,
jen
P.S. When you join the Storytelling Mastermind by April 30 at 11:59 p.m. EDT and sign up for the annual membership, you get a badass AF Bonus: a FREE Developmental Edit on your manuscript (up to 85k words; a $1,600 value) by yours truly AND you get one whole year to use this service.
>> Details and Sign Up HERE
