Don’t Give Up Writing Before You Start

How limiting beliefs stop you cold

Does this sound like you?

“I’m not qualified enough to apply for that writing job.”

“I don’t have enough experience.”

“ I’m not a preferred candidate.”

You are not alone. I too have limiting beliefs that have hindered my career. Many of us writers do. We have a long list of excuses for why we can’t go after the positions we want. Deep inside we feel we are not good enough. So we close the doors, the second they open. We don’t need anyone to reject us. We’ve already done it ourselves.

We never even put ourselves in the game. Since when did we become our own worst enemy — the judge and jury of our talent?

I have dreamed of having a career as a writer for as long as I can remember. It took me years to send out that first manuscript to a national publication. My early rejections were devastating to me.

In college, I dropped a Journalism major and switched to another major I didn’t even like because I received criticism. The college newspaper had just published my first interview and I was thrilled. Then a friend told me someone they knew thought the piece I wrote wasn’t at the college level and I wrote like I was in high school. It didn’t matter that others loved my article. I let that one negative opinion from someone I didn’t even know change my life plans. Could you imagine someone being that fragile, with such low self-esteem? Yet, that was me.

Coping with rejection

Are you cringing every time a publication rejects you? Are you beginning to think that maybe you have no talent and shouldn’t be writing? Answer these questions:

#1: Do you love to write?

#2: Would you do it for free?

If you answer yes to these questions then you should never let anybody’s opinion stop you from doing what you love most. Who cares what some random person thinks?

Don’t be like I was. I was afraid to apply for content writing positions for the most ridiculous reasons. I would talk myself out of each position saying I wasn’t qualified. I never even applied. You always miss the opportunities you don’t take.

Who was I to decide that the employers would reject me before I even put myself out there? That’s their decision to make, not mine.

My limiting beliefs caused me to minimize my accomplishments and focus on the times I was rejected. It was almost if I had a fear of success. I know, that sounds crazy, right?

How to change your limiting beliefs

Deep inside this fear of putting yourself out there, there is this belief:

#1: I’m not good enough.

This belief may have originated in your childhood when adults around you made you doubt your abilities. Maybe they redid every job you did because they did it better.

You don’t have to carry this limiting belief around with you. Start listing all the ways you are good enough. Apparently, you’re good enough to be writing content on platforms. People are already reading your work. You may have numerous fans who already love your work. So this limiting belief can not continue. It’s false. You are good enough.

There will always be people that are better or worse than you are. Truth is, there’s a lot of people that are a worse writer than you, and already have books published. So it’s time to let go of that limiting belief. You are good enough. What they told you at five years old was not true. That came from some stressed-out parents who had no idea the damage they were inflicting upon an impressionable child. Let go of that limiting belief now.

# 2: It’s hard to make money.

You probably heard that one in childhood too. You had overworked parents who felt that the 9–5 life was the answer to all their problems. They believed that your employer decided how much money you were going to earn. They set a salary and that’s what you earned. If it was a low salary, you were stuck.

Again, that’s another false belief. The employer doesn’t decide if you remain poor — you decide. You are in control of your life and how much you make. You don’t have to settle for a low paying job. You can seek a better job. You can freelance and start your own business. You are not stuck being a poor person because an employer didn’t see your unique gifts and valuable skills.

A lot of writers may be complaining they don’t earn enough, but at the same time, there are other writers out there that are earning six figures or more. They decided to take control of their lives, and learn how to create multiple streams of income so that their writing career would pay off.

Some of them loved writing so much, it didn’t even feel like work. So belief two needs to be changed to:

“I earn lots of money writing.”

Limiting belief number three:

# 3 Rich people are selfish.

This is a difficult one. How can you ever become wealthy if you think rich people are bad people? You have to realize that there are plenty of wealthy people out there that are in fact, good people who give to the poor and help others. It’s okay to earn large amounts. You are still a good person. You now have more ways to help others through your larger income. You can help people in a much larger capacity. So get rid of that ridiculous belief and allow yourself permission to prosper.

#4 I’m unlucky in life.

You may have had an unlucky streak. You may be ill. You can still write. Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote the most memorable poetry from her bed with a chronic illness.

But wheels keep turning. Soon you will be in a different place in life, where your luck will turn for the better. Now you can say, “I’m such a lucky person. Good things are happening for me.”

# 5: I’m too old to be a writer.

I have news for you. Nobody cares how old a writer is. They just care about the content you write. Not one publisher has asked me what my age was. They just liked my writing and publish it.

Numerous writers succeeded in old age. I know a writer who worked as an editor for years. Her novel was rejected 74 times and the 75th time was the charm. She now has a fun career in her senior years as a novelist. She did it, so it’s possible. It’s time to get rid of your limiting beliefs right now.

Stop being your worst enemy

Give yourself a chance and send your writing resume out. Submit to publications. Create a suit of armor that can withstand any rejection. When people reject your work, they are not rejecting you, they are just rejecting that particular piece. Even if one person rejects it, someone else will love it.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to move forward with your writing career. I hope someday I can say I knew you before you became a huge success.