Note to Self: Stop Talking

[image error]To myself, I mean. Or rather, more specifically, stop the mental negative self-talk that doesn’t help and only makes me miserable. Stop saying I have no ideas. Stop saying I have no time. Stop saying my work is too quirky to find a home. Stop saying I’m not good enough to pull off a major project. Stop saying there’s too many other fine writers out there, far better writers than I am. Stop saying all these things before I’ve even get started, before I can possibly have any notion of whether an idea is viable or not. Note to self: you’re not helping! You’re only succeeding in shutting me down. Just stop! I don’t wanna hear it!

[image error]Or maybe I should more profitably tell myself: stop listening. I’ve had a lifetime of practice in not listening to other people (parents, rejected lovers, the fashion police). Why can’t I tune out the voices in my own head? Maybe I can’t. But, I’ve read that brain scientists have shown that you can’t hold two thoughts in your head at one time. So, instead of battling the negative voices, maybe the cure is to fill my brain with thoughts that push the other ones out. Thoughts like: I’m excited about a new idea. Or, I saw a great market for that story I’ve got in inventory. Or, I don’t have to do it all at once, a little progress every day will get me there. Maybe if I can do this routinely enough, maybe if I can make the positive thoughts the default, I can gradually diminish the visitations or the impact of the negative ones. Can’t hurt to try.