Over the past six days, we have been through a key cycle in the creative life of a writer: preparing, planting, watering, pruning, harvesting, and celebrating. This is the cycle of growth we go through again and again as we pursue higher levels of growth. In the Western world, we are used to jumping back … Read more
Over the last few days, we have been talking about developing a growth-oriented mindset. This is a mindset that is not fixed in place, but is instead flexible and ready to grow. After you have prepared by tilling the soil of your mind, planted by keeping track of your ideas, watered your mind by reading, … Read more
As you continue to grow in your writing skills, your connections, and your influence, you will have more and more opportunities. This is both a good and bad thing. Obviously, opportunities are wonderful! You can write for more outlets or reach more readers with your own writing. With this expanded influence and connection also comes … Read more
In her landmark book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Dr. Carol Dweck argues that your mindset, far more than your talents or abilities, is responsible for your personal and professional success. To be more specific, she contrasts two approaches to life: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. A person with a fixed mindset … Read more
Have you ever had this experience? You just finished a writing project that is important to you. It might be creating a blog post, writing a book, getting a cover design, getting a new client, or something else. You’re sitting with someone you admire over dinner and mention that you completed it. You show them … Read more
Think back to your high school years. Like most of us, you probably knew a kid in high school who was supremely gifted. His or her natural talent was head and shoulders above the rest. They might have even been voted “most likely to succeed” or “most talented.” Everyone fawned over their natural talent. Everyone … Read more
William Goldman was one of the most successful Hollywood screenwriters of all time. He was the creative genius behind scripts for The Princess Bride and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, among many others. In total, he had nearly three dozen scripts produced, which is remarkable by anyone’s standards. In his funny and insightful book … Read more
As I mentioned yesterday in my podcast intro, I’m forgoing the usual weekend introduction and just diving right in. This weekend, I’m doing a couple of shorter episodes that can help you with practical aspects of your writing. On today’s post, I’d love to dive into the topic of perfectionism. This is an area where … Read more
Do you struggle with being a perfectionist? If so, here is a strategy that can help you overcome it immediately. But first, what is perfectionism? It is the tendency to get paralyzed by the idea that your work is never good enough. Perfectionists imagine there is a standard out there and they can never reach … Read more
One of the most helpful perspectives we can adopt as writers is understanding that we don’t have an objective view of reality. This is hard to hear because most of us naturally believe we see things as they are. We assume we can see ourselves and everyone else clearly, as they are. We trust that … Read more