I’m writing this at Bill Baren’s The Big Shift event. Bill is an interesting fellow (check out my PW Unplugged Radio interview with him) and what I most enjoy is how he presents “old” topics with a fresh, new slant.
Yesterday he talked about the “shields” we all carry around with us. A shield is something we use to protect ourselves from taking a chance and maybe getting hurt (like we start a new business but the business fails, so if we didn’t start that business we would never experience the hurt of it failing — and we have a shield that keeps us from ever starting the biz in the first place).
Shields can be things like:
* I’m too old
* The economy is bad
* I don’t have a college degree (or the right education)
* My family isn’t supportive
* I don’t have the money
* My kids are young and I need to be with them
Or it can even be internal blocks we don’t even realize we have, like a fear of success or failure or making to much money or not valuing ourselves, etc.
So it got me thinking — what shields am I using to keep myself from writing?
While I probably have a few (I think we all have multiple shields) I think one of the big ones for me is “I don’t have the time.”
I mean, I have a busy, thriving, copywriting and marketing business. I travel a lot, am on the phone a lot, when is there time?
So, yes there’s no question I COULD make the argument I have no time.
But…
Then I look at authors such as Stephen King and Mary Higgens Clark, both of whom worked full time, had little money AND had families and STILL managed to find the time to write their first book. (Clark in particular — she was a single mom supporting 5 kids and working full time — she used to get up at 4 am to write, plus when her kids were doing homework she would write with them.)
I don’t have kids. So how is it I, with no kids, can’t find the time to write?
Maybe because it’s a shield. A comfortable shield protecting me from rejection. Because, of course, if I can’t find time to write, then I don’t have to worry about my writing getting rejected.
See how that works?
So, I’m taking a stand here that I’m no longer using the “I don’t have time” excuse to stop myself from getting my writing out there.
Now, it’s your turn. What’s YOUR shield protecting yourself from writing? Comment below and let the world see it, because it’s only by getting it OUT of you that will allow you to finally make that shift.
