I make excuses for myself ALL of the time. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I procrastinate. I find other ways to spend my time, doing tasks that in NO WAY reflect my goals.
Last night I stumbled upon this vlog post by Dana Ellington, MAPW. She talks about limiting beliefs and the lies we tell ourselves.
Now, I can and HAVE taken measures to increase my skills, especially in my writing. I’ve read and learned about outlining and story craft. I’ve learned about story beats. I’ve used Khan Academy to brush up on my grammar. I’ve become familiar with editing software and cover creators…
But NONE of this matters, not if I won’t sit my butt down and WRITE!
Dana uses this great phrase to help you get unstuck:
I would do_____, if I could, but I can’t because_____.
So, I filled out her statement like this:
I would finish writing my novel, if I could, but I can’t because ????? .
Because…why? How do I answer this statement? I don’t think I have a legitimate excuse.
Because…
- I need to check updates on Facebook?
- There are too many shows to watch on Netflix?
- I had to check my email. Again.
- And Twitter.
- I had to play a game on my phone?
- Look! Another YouTube video…and there are kittens!!!!!!!!!!
Wow! I’m not trying to put myself down or anything. We ALL do this. When we aren’t reaching our goals, there’s probably a reason. But, it’s REALLY eye opening to phrase my excuses like this, to see them in front of me!
Be sure to check out Dana Ellington, MAPW’s blog for more information and also her website!
Thank you, Dana! You really inspired me!!! I appreciate all that you do. 😀
xo Juli
JULI HOFFMAN 
I feel your pain. That’s a good exercise – I can’t come up with a decent because either! 🤷♀️
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Right?! It’s a small epiphany. 😀
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today it was ‘because I needed to get dog hairs out of the carpet..’ Oh yes, I can procrastinate with the best… I did get a blister so that’s good, right?
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HAHAAhaaaa!!!!!!!! Blister, for the win!!!
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Thank you so much Juli, for sharing and for talking more about how this exercise worked for you. :-).
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Thank you for sharing what you’ve learned with us!!!
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Mine is “I can’t write because I’m too busy editing for clients.” This is a little more difficult because it’s actually legitimate. But I need to carve out the time somehow.
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That must be tough, switching your brain from “editor mode” to “writer mode.” Maybe working on your own WIP for a few minutes early in the day, then doing something unrelated to writing, then switching into editor mode afterward would help? My brain seems to be able to go from writing to editing, but if I START with editing, that’s all it wants to do: nit-pic. 😀
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There’s no early in the day for me. I spend that time getting ready for work after my alarm goes off at 5:30. LOL A full time job doesn’t help when you’re trying to do two other jobs!
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I feel your pain!
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