Do Something Badly
Sometimes we don't do things because we're not sure we can do them well. We feel that we're not in the mood or at the right energy level to do the task we have to do, so we put it off, or wait for inspiration to arrive.
The most commonly known example of this phenomenon is what writers call "writer's block." A mental barrier seems to set in that prevents a writer from writing. Sometimes it gets so severe that writers go to psychotherapists to get help for it. The "block" (or lack of self-motivation) occurs not because the writer can't write, but because the writer thinks he can't write well. In other words, the writer thinks he doesn't have the proper energy or inspiration to write something, right now, that's good enough to submit. So the pessimistic voice inside the writer says, "You can't think of anything to write, can you?" This happens to many of us, even with something as small as a postcard to send, or an overdue e-mail to answer. But the writer doesn't really need psychotherapy for this. All he or she needs is an understanding of how human mind is working at the moment of the "block." The cure for the writer's block-and also the road to self-motivation-is simple. The cure is to go ahead and write badly.
Novelist Anne Lamott has a chapter in her marvelous book Bird by Bird called "Shitty First Drafts." The key to writing, she says, is to just start typing anything-it can be the worst thing you've ever written, it doesn't matter. "Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts," says Lamott. "You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something-anything-down on paper." By the mere act of typing you have disempowered the pessimistic voice that tried to convince you not to write. Now you are writing. And once you're in action, it's easy to pick up the energy and pick up the quality.
We're often afraid to do things until we're sure we'll do them well. Therefore we don't do anything. This tendency led G.K. Chesterton to say, "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly."
What are your thoughts on this? Leave them in the comment section below.
Recent posts-
1) Make use of your opportunities
2) Know your goals
3) Be your own disciple
The most commonly known example of this phenomenon is what writers call "writer's block." A mental barrier seems to set in that prevents a writer from writing. Sometimes it gets so severe that writers go to psychotherapists to get help for it. The "block" (or lack of self-motivation) occurs not because the writer can't write, but because the writer thinks he can't write well. In other words, the writer thinks he doesn't have the proper energy or inspiration to write something, right now, that's good enough to submit. So the pessimistic voice inside the writer says, "You can't think of anything to write, can you?" This happens to many of us, even with something as small as a postcard to send, or an overdue e-mail to answer. But the writer doesn't really need psychotherapy for this. All he or she needs is an understanding of how human mind is working at the moment of the "block." The cure for the writer's block-and also the road to self-motivation-is simple. The cure is to go ahead and write badly.
Novelist Anne Lamott has a chapter in her marvelous book Bird by Bird called "Shitty First Drafts." The key to writing, she says, is to just start typing anything-it can be the worst thing you've ever written, it doesn't matter. "Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts," says Lamott. "You need to start somewhere. Start by getting something-anything-down on paper." By the mere act of typing you have disempowered the pessimistic voice that tried to convince you not to write. Now you are writing. And once you're in action, it's easy to pick up the energy and pick up the quality.
We're often afraid to do things until we're sure we'll do them well. Therefore we don't do anything. This tendency led G.K. Chesterton to say, "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly."
What are your thoughts on this? Leave them in the comment section below.
Recent posts-
1) Make use of your opportunities
2) Know your goals
3) Be your own disciple
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