It’s a nice, short, 2-question “Something to Think About” in the self-esteem issue (vol. 2 iss. 3), which is nice because I don’t think my self-esteem could handle a bunch of questions. Let’s get to it:
The intro paragraph claims that if you want to change the way you feel about yourself, change the way you act. Then you’ll know what triggers your feelings of self-doubt and learn how to manage those situations when they come up. Change your behavior, and you’ll feel better about yourself, and voila! Good self-esteem!
- “Write down one area in your life–your finances, marriage, health, career–in which you feel insecure, uneasy, or frustrated. What one thing can you do right now to improve your situation? What can you do tomorrow and the next day?” Well, I feel insecure about the writing career. It’s slow to take off–mainly because I’m slow to query and slow to write. I can think up all sorts of excuses about why I shouldn’t sit down at the computer in the morning. I don’t put together proposals. I mainly slave away at blogs that not a lot of people read and don’t promote myself. When I don’t write or breathe long enough to figure out where I can sell what I want to write about, then I get frustrated, or I feel guilty, and I goof off even more. And then I’m frustrated because this project is way behind schedule. So what’s the one thing I can do right now to improve my situation? Don’t stress over the selling. I have a schedule worked out, and selling happens on certain days. On selling days, I should look at any notes I’ve kept over the week and then put together queries. I can keep plugging away on this project–I’ll finish it eventually. Just keep moving–if I tell myself that, I do feel better. It’s like Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird–take the writing a little bit at a time. And then I’ll try not to feel as though I sound like a broken record.
- “Procrastination and fear often block our progress. What task have you been avoiding for at least a month? Why are you putting it off? How would buckling down and pushing yourself to act help improve your sense of self? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say they’re not talking about me not cleaning the oven. I do avoid this project religiously. I have piles of the magazines around my desk, haunting me every time I look at them. Although I haven’t avoided this project for a month, I do avoid it for days and weeks at a time. By doing that, I’ll never read all these magazines and have to deal with what to do about them. Nor will I gain any insight they may give me. It’s possible I avoid them because I don’t want to go through the work of changing. But if I buckle down and finish this, I’ll feel so good about accomplishing a big project–it means that I can tackle a book or something.
OK, I’m going to ponder this for a little while, but I’m also going to keep right on going and read another article or two. Plug away, Jill. Plug away.
