If you want to be a writer, you’ll inevitably find yourself playing by someone else’s rules. It starts with compromising the small things. You give up a creative idea when someone tells you it’s not good enough. Instead of filing it away to use later, you scrap it. Be careful not to scrap yourself too.
Most of us walk around with a bit of unworthiness hidden deep within. It’s important to understand this when you go outside your comfort zone to work with the professionals in your field. You might suddenly find your life’s work, your history, is of no consequence, other than that it enables you to draw from what you learned.
Unless you are a big CEO that everyone knows, being a succesful entrepreneur isn’t something you should plan on using as your foundation. Most publishers could care less about your previous jobs. They just want good content for their publications and readers. They are in business too.
Sometimes the harder you work, the faster the rejections come. Be ready for it. Expect your inner unworthiness to pop up. Don’t ignore the feelings it evokes. Stop what you are working on, take a mental step back and ask why you are feeling unworthy. Chances are, your ego got in the way because someone told you no.
If you aren’t accustomed to rejection, the first time it happens may be jarring. It’s critically important you don’t internalize it. Don’t make it about you, because it’s not. It’s about the people who will be reading what you write. Rejections give you an opportunity to level up your skills. You’ll find yourself writing solid pieces with little fluff. Everything tightens up. You become more than you were.
As you mature as a writer, your entire human experience will change. You might engage more with others out of interest in their stories. You become more aware of the world around you, how it operates and what you should give your attention to.
If you are in a place of feeling unworthy, don’t stuff it back down and keep moving. You’ll miss an opportunity to heal yourself, of becoming worthy in your own eyes. Once this shift occurs, you operate from a place of strength. You stop taking things so personally. You stop giving up what you love because someone says you aren’t good enough. It’s a lie.
You are more than enough. You are unique with a history different than anyone else’s. Draw from your history, from all the times you were strong when you felt weak. How we get through those times determines our success.
Originally published at medium.com