The Start of #100DaystoOffload
This is my first post for #100daystooffload, where the goal is to write 100 blog posts within a calendar year. I found out about this through the website here:
https://100daystooffload.com/
Why am I doing this?
Because for the last few years, I’ve struggled to write pretty much anything. In the past I’ve had blogs, YouTube, and different social media, and I used to share my thoughts freely, because I love writing, learning, and sharing those lessons learned.
However, in the last few years, something changed, and I’ve now been struggling with crippling self-doubt. Every time I sit down to write anything at all (with the intention of publishing it), I’m bombarded by negative thoughts like:
“Who cares?”
“Why would anyone listen to you anyway?”
“You’re nobody.”
And on and on. I can’t seem to write anything without thinking about how much it sucks, how my opinion doesn’t matter because I don’t hold a PhD, or whatever else.
By forcing myself to write 100 posts in a year, and giving myself permission to suck, the hope is that I can break the barrier of self-doubt, confront my fear, exercise my “publishing” muscle, and of course get better at writing in the process.
So while I would love to produce some diamonds in these 100 posts, that’s not the point. The point is exposure therapy. It’s to “grease the groove,” a concept I learned from Pavel Tsatsouline, which I’ve applied to fitness with great success. To give a SUPER oversimplified explanation — the more you do something, the better you get.
You get faster, stronger, and more efficient. I believe the same applies to writing. And the more words I write, consciously, intentionally, but without perfection in mind, the better I’ll get.
This is of course only my theory, but I feel in my gut that this experiment is what I need to get my voice back, so that’s what I’m doing.
I’ll post small updates on how it’s going, and of course one big update after I’ve posted 100 times.
Let’s see how it goes.