As they say, there is nothing new under the sun. When you look at the millions of books, blogs, podcasts, and magazine articles that have been created, what could you possibly say that is unique?

The answer is simple. What makes your writing unique is not that you’re writing about something new. It’s the fact that it’s you who is writing it. You are the unique factor in the equation.

Unique means “one of a kind.” And there is only one of you in the world.

Your unique combination of skills, experience, and viewpoint is what makes your writing worth reading. You might be writing about the same things as a hundred other people, but they’re not saying it in the way you say it.

So how does this inform your writing? The novelist Barbara Kingsolver has the answer. She said, “Close the door. Write with no one looking over your shoulder. Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.”

As it turns out, the only thing you have to offer is also the best thing you have to offer. There will only ever be one of you in the world. There is only one person who can speak with your voice. Don’t waste the opportunity to let us hear it.

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This is the second entry in our mini-series on dealing with rejection.

It’s happened to all of us. You had your heart set on an opportunity and it falls through. Maybe it’s a writing job, a podcast guest appearance, a collaboration, or another type of opportunity. You thought it was going to happen but now it isn’t.

As the 1960s group, The Monkees, famously sang, “Tomorrow’s Gonna Be Another Day.” Yes, rejection can be disappointing, but you have the chance today to connect with almost anyone on the planet directly. So don’t wait around for an opportunity to come knocking on YOUR door. Take the initiative and make opportunities happen. They are all around you, every single day.

The place to start is not by asking, but by giving. Start today with someone you can help, someone you can give to. When you take the focus off yourself and what you need, pretty soon the opportunities will start showing up in weird and unexpected ways. This is the very best way to take the focus off your disappointments today and start investing in tomorrow.

Daily Question: What is a way you can give or invest in someone today?

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We writers, by definition, tend to be an introverted group of people who don’t like change. Most of us like systems, predictability, and routine. We prefer sitting in a room alone for hours in front of a computer screen instead of being in groups of people.

Which is all well and good.

But the downside of the typical writer personality is that we have a hard time with change and risk. However, we must remember that nothing is certain. There are no guarantees, either when you have a writing business where you are serving clients, or whether you are writing and launching your own books and other content.

There is more change and disruption happening in the world today than probably at any point in human history. All bets are off. Every industry is undergoing massive change because of technology. But instead of seeing this as a threat, it’s a great thing.

Why? Because it means we get to build the kind of business and life we want.

It also means we need to let go of our preconceived notions about what to expect. We have to roll with the punches, be nimble, and be able to change and grow to take advantage of new opportunities. This means that your long-term goals are important, but your short-term strategies may need to be reconsidered.

Remember what Charles Dickens wrote at the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities? He said, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …” But you get to choose which one it will be for you, and it begins by letting go of expectations, having fun, and being willing to adapt and grow.

Daily Question: Do you this moment as the best of times or the worst of times? Why?

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Years before he was known as the star of the beloved sitcom Seinfeld, Jerry Seinfeld was a successful stand-up comedian. For comedians of his era in the 1970s and 1980s, the golden key to success was appearing on The Tonight Show, hosted by Johnny Carson.

Carson ruled the late-night airwaves for thirty years. He was the most important Kingmaker in American culture. If you were invited to do a 5-minute set on The Tonight Show, and Johnny liked you, your career was set.

In 1981, Seinfeld was scheduled for his first appearance on the show. A few years later, he reflected on the experience when he sat for an interview with Larry Wilde, a comedian and author.

Larry asked, “How did you prepare for that?”

Seinfeld deadpanned, “Rigorously.” Then he continued, “Every comedian knows that his first appearance on the Tonight Show is his Olympics, his World Series, and his Superbowl all rolled into one. This is his chance to become an A player, the A team.”

Then, Seinfeld went on to explain that as soon as he constructed his 5-minute set of material, he practiced in relentlessly. In the weeks before his Tonight Show appearance, he would go from club to club, performing it. He would do it up to five or six times a night. Seinfeld said that he probably rehearsed that single 5-minute set two hundred times during that period to make sure it was perfect. It was an opportunity he was not going to blow.

And, in fact, he made the most of that appearance because Seinfeld became one of the most famous comedians in America, even before the enormous success of the Seinfeld TV show.

All because he saw an opportunity he was not going to waste. He put in the reps, he did the work, and it paid off in spades.

Daily Question: When you consider the success you want to achieve and the opportunities you want as a writer, how many reps are you willing to do in order to be the best?

Note: If you’d like to listen to Larry Wilde’s full interview with Jerry Seinfeld, you can do so by listening to the album, “Jerry Seinfeld on Comedy.”

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In the push and pull of everyday life, each day pretty much seems the same. We go to work, spend time with our families, take care of bills and housework, watch some TV or movies, and rinse and repeat for the next day.

Today probably seems like every other day, but it’s not. Today is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. This day will never come around again in the history of the universe. You only get one shot at it.

That’s important to remember when it comes to the time you dedicate to writing. You only get one chance to write today, so make it count. It’s so easy to channel Scarlett O’Hara from Gone with the Wind. She famously said, “I’ll think about that tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.”

But tomorrow is not just another day. When tomorrow comes, it means today is an opportunity you can never get back. Everything you want as a writer is created in actual time on actual days. It’s not somewhere out there—instead, it’s right in front of you in the push and pull of your daily life.

Don’t let your writing time be gone with the wind.

Daily Question: Are you using today to its fullest writing potential?

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There is a common trait among successful writers, and it has nothing to do with skill, talent, genre, or style. Instead, it has everything to do with taking responsibility for your own life choices.

Most people are passive observers of their own lives. They accept the choices that life hands to them. They assume what they see other people doing is what they should be doing also. They go along with the crowd, never rock the boat, and never achieve their dreams.

On the other hand, successful writers know that life is not a multiple-choice test. If they don’t like the options in front of them, they create new ones.

How do we do this? We do this by taking advantage of all the amazing opportunities we have today as writers. There is an almost unlimited number of opportunities for you to get your work in front of readers and make a good living while doing it.

Is it hard to strike out on your own pathway while everyone around you is conforming to social norms? While everyone else is doing what other people expect? While everyone else is not writing books or putting in the work to build their own writing business?

Of course it’s challenging. Nobody said this would be easy. But if you are going to make something happen, this is not the time to be passive. This is not the time to limit your options. The world is a giant buffet of opportunity. Will you take advantage of it?

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In the world of computers, WYSIWYG stands for “what you see is what you get.” It refers to an editing system or interface where the content you see onscreen shows exactly how it will look when it’s printed or displayed elsewhere.

But WYSIWYG can also refer to the writing life as a whole. What you see is truly what you get.

Do you see opportunities everywhere? Do you see people to connect with, people you can learn from? Do you see a world filled with publishing options and technology that lets you share and sell your work to anybody in the world with an internet connection? Do you see sparks of creativity in your life every day through the books you read, people you meet, and the places you go?

Or on the flip side …

Do you see negative people who are only out to get you? Do you see everybody else getting opportunities while you have to fight for scraps? Do you feel shut down by other people who don’t like your work? Do you feel pressed for time and can never seem to get any writing done? Do you feel angry and upset by everything happening in the world?

What you see is what you get. If you see possibilities for success, that’s what you’ll get. If you see a world full of obstacles and frustration, that’s also what you’ll get.

Charles Dickens was right when he began his classic book A Tale of Two Cities with these words: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times …”

Everybody around you may feel like it’s the worst of times, but you can choose to see something different. It is truly the best of times if you’re a writer who is willing to put in the work and take advantage of the amazing opportunities we have today.

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