Pushing myself beyond my limits has been a blast. While on staycation, I responded to a request to write periodic articles for a blog I read. Nice one for me, right? I think so, too. By seeking outside goals, I knew my skills as a writer would grow. Otherwise, I keep repeating the same excuses.
“Oh, writing 1000 words a day is so hard!”
or
“My writing will never be accepted by X.”
The second excuse takes me out of the game from the beginning and keeps me comfortable in my own well-grown mediocrity. I’m comfortable, but I’m not sure I like myself very much. In order to make my living as a writer I have to be willing to push myself hard, harder than I ever thought possible. I pushed through the second excuse to approach the blog’s founder. I’m so glad I did.
Here’s the suprising thing I’m learning, at least about writing: I find I am filled with words. When the founder of the blog set his editorial expectations, one of them was to submit an article with a length 1200-3000 words. Those are some big numbers. My first thought ran along the lines of several swear words followed by “I don’t know if I can do it.”
Then I said I’m going for it! When Ms. H. asked me yesterday, “What will you do if you can’t meet the deadline?” I responded with “I have to.”
It was like a whole new me showed up! Pushing myself like this makes me feel better about myself and more confident in my abilities.
Push yourself harder than you think you can stand…this may become my new mantra for 2013.