Stop Believing Those Voices, Because We Are Good Enough

By Sandra Hager Eliason

My father’s favorite expression was “How could you be so dumb?” followed closely by “I’m ashamed of you.”

Which explains exactly why I stopped pitching my memoir after six rejections. The echoes of my father’s voice reverberated:

I’m not ready.

It must need more work.

How could I think I was good enough to pitch this? Someone else needs to review it, to tell me how to do it “right.”

For my father, the opposite of dumb was smart. I spent my life prov...