Are you a Writing Succeeder?

Just the other day I was talking with my sister about how we feel inadequate at our jobs sometimes. Have you ever felt incompetent when writing or doing something else? 

While it is not a common fault people like to admit, at some point in our lives we have all felt inadequate. We have felt that yucky, sticky feeling at some point. 

It isn’t a good kind of feeling, and we often wonder if it is true—are we inadequate to be doing what we do? 

Writer, this feeling isn’t bad. While it isn’t pleasant, and it does mean you could be making mistakes, it also means you are moving into the future. 

This feeling is living. Let me explain. 

Should Life be Comfortable?

I love being comfy. 

I love my tea and coffee, my fluffy blankets, and heat blowing on my feet while I drive. 

I like doing things I’m comfortable with. I love reading, watching TV shows, and imagining stories in my head. I’ve been doing these things for years. They are exciting but also comfortable, because I know how to do them—I know what to expect. 

We all love comfort. If left alone and free we would all gravitate to living comfortably. We tend to avoid venturing out of our comfort zones and procrastinate on uncomfortable tasks.

But dreams cannot be reached when we are comfortable. We cannot publish our novels if we let our fear drive us back into our comfortable state. Your blog will never take off until you find the courage to reach new audiences. 

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The truth is many people aren’t comfortable. The successful writers and influencers you look up to feel the same way you do. They may look comfortable at a distance, but to get where they are they went through what you feel now. They’ve made mistakes and felt unprepared.

If they are still climbing, they still do. 

I wish we could live comfortably always. I’m not comfortable editing my novel, pitching for guests posts, or networking. But my dreams are too great to keep me under my blankets forever.

Comfort isn’t bad. Moments of comfort are necessary to keep our sanity.

But if you aspire to be a great writer, to make your life extraordinary, to make a business from doing what you love, you will never be satisfied with a life of comfortable. 

Growing Pains

So, what is that yucky feeling?

They are growing pains. 

Like the physical growing pains you had when you were a teenager, growing your mind and soul hurts, too. 

When stretching your boundaries—like writing your novel or pitching your writing—it’s painful. It can feel like you’re barely holding onto the edge of a cliff or fighting to keep your head above water in a storm. 

It not only hurts, but it can feel like you’re doing a horrible job. 

Anything new you attempt will be hard, and may feel bad at first. You may feel inadequate and you’ll make mistakes. This is normal, and it isn’t bad. 

You are learning and growing, and these things do not come without a little pain. 

It’s when you aren’t experiencing growing pains that you have a problem. If you aren’t feeling that challenge, then you are not moving forward toward your dreams. 

Don’t be discouraged or defeated by these feelings. Sure, you are unprepared and making mistakes, but that is an invaluable part of learning. 

Keep moving forward. You are doing great. 

Will Life Even Out? 

What you found hard at one time will become easier in the future, but there will always be something ahead that is harder. 

It’s not just the obstacle currently in front of you that you must get through, but building blocks of obstacles you must climb. 

Growing your writing—your life—isn’t about keeping your hardest experiences in the past, it is about chasing even harder things. It’s finding a greater victory to reach for than you’ve ever accomplished.

This is how you live in the future, instead of from the past. 

Like the climaxing of a TV, novel, or movie series there are always new and harder challenges ahead for the characters. To grow the characters must be pushed out of their comfort zones. We love seeing them discover themselves in the midst of their new, greatest challenge. 

Perhaps it’s the story-lover in me, but that’s how I want to live my life. 

To continually grow will always hurt, and you may have several emotional breakdowns along the way. But if you’re anything like me, you feel most alive when you are moving onto new things—living in the future.

You Are a Writing Succeeder

This life of continual growth isn’t for everyone, and that is completely fine. If your ideal life isn’t pushing toward new dreams everyday, that isn’t wrong. 

There is more than one way to live. 

But, if you feel that inner drive to live greatly, reach higher, and make a change in your life and the world with your words, then you are no longer alone. 

That is what a Writing Succeeder is—climbing to new heights, growing, and making a difference. It is experiencing life, not just surviving. It is loving stories unashamedly. 

Featured photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash