My personal writing project is not going so great. I show up like a boss for everyone else, I put my all into serving my clients, I do all the things for them. But for ME? I got nada. So how do you write when you put everyone else first?

I think this is a pretty common phenomenon. We meet our work deadlines. We get dinner on the table for the family. We chauffeur the kids around to the climbing gym and the swim club and the playdates.

And we don’t get our own stuff done.

My psychological thriller has been stalled out at 7,371 words for the last two months.

So… I did a thing.

Two weeks ago, I hired a book coach.

Why would a book coach need a book coach?

“But wait, Liz, aren’t YOU a book coach?”

Yes, yes I am.

“But Liz, don’t you TEACH people how to prioritize their writing?”

Yes, yes I do.

But you know the drill: We do things for others and not for ourselves.

So now I have someone else doing the things for me: coaching, motivating, encouraging, and pushing me to do better.

And you know what she’s got me doing?

Small shit.

Really.

Small.

Shit.

Go small to go at all

I actually requested small action items. I asked her to take it slow with me because (and this it the bit that stings to admit)... I wasn’t sure I could do more. Wasn’t sure I could be better.

But going small is allowing me to build my confidence as I work on this new skill of DOING my writing, instead of just wishing I was writing.

Going small is allowing me to go… which is a massive improvement over being stalled out.

I haven’t increased my word count (yet), but this week I have re-worked the outline for my story—and that small step is huge progress.

AND I also got my kiddo to the climbing gym. And the swim club. No idea how, but it happened. True story.

Choose your own small priority

You don’t need to hire a book coach to make this work for you. I mean, you can. But before we get there, let’s try a thought experiment:

What is the smallest possible writing task you could prioritize?

Consider what you can do now for you and your writing dream, then make that task smaller. Make it manageable, so you can get it done without forgetting to feed the family dinner.

Let’s build our writing confidence together. For ourselves. One small step at a time.

In other news

I was interviewed on the Relatively Damaged podcast! The show asks, “What if we are all just a little bit damaged? How do we grow? What determines if we look back and see joy or sorrow?”

In this pretty personal chat, I talk with host Angela about figuring out how to work, challenge myself, earn money, and feel fulfilled while working around my health issues. Check it out here and listen to the episode titled The Unexpected Entrepreneur.

 
 

Thanks,

Liz “Me First” Green
Editor, Book Coach, and Ghostwriter
Green Goose Writing

 
 

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