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Abstract

o it and have more confidence in myself.</p><h1 id="3276">How did this book help?</h1><p id="dd67">It’s not your usual self-help book. The author won’t pat you on the back and say it’s okay, you have a fear of the dark. Instead, he will make you overcome that fear, step out of your comfort zone, and assure you there are great things waiting for you once you do that.</p><p id="daad">It is structured in ten chapters, with suggestive titles so that you can easily reread a chapter if needed. All of them are great, but five in particular really made a difference.</p><figure id="c156"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*6o87ZwYbgwb8Kmz6X-CFYw.png"><figcaption>Image created by the Author on <a href="https://www.canva.com/">Canva</a></figcaption></figure><h2 id="e3cd">1. You don’t have to be a genius</h2><p id="8e9c" type="7">“That’s all any of us are: amateurs. We don’t live long enough to be anything else” — Charlie Chaplin</p><p id="10ff">I don’t think we’re being told this enough. Actually, I don’t think we’re being told this at all.</p><p id="70b2"><b>The world is filled with amateurs, who learn from other amateurs how to be successful. That’s it.</b></p><p id="081b">This chapter was my favorite for the fact it talks about how being a genius is such a rare thing that it shouldn’t even matter to us. We should only focus on being the best version of ourselves.</p><p id="e02b">Also, it explains how people are more drawn to listening to beginners rather than experts (or geniuses, as we call them). When you become so experienced in a field, it’s hard to remember how it was for you at the start of your journey, whereas a beginner can be a better teacher given that he/she recently took the same steps you will.</p><p id="72b4">This is something I needed someone to say or write in order to believe it myself.</p><h2 id="160a">2. Share something small every day</h2><p id="6dad" type="7">“If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive” — Kenneth Goldsmith</p><p id="757c">This is more like a little trick to let your audience get an insight into your life. People enjoy being a part of something and your projects make no exception.</p><p id="c120">It might be a newsletter, some articles that are related to one another, or the announcement of a new project. It can be anything! Just make sure you’re letting people know you’re still alive, still in the process of creating. You don’t have to write something that will go viral every day, but you want people to see your name pop up and remember they’ve read one of your viral articles.</p><h2 id="7d98">3. Teach what you know</h2><p id="4afd" type="7">“The impulse to keep

Options

to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” — Annie Dillard</p><p id="3fec">Even if you don’t consider yourself as someone whose abilities/knowledge can be useful to others, reconsider!</p><p id="be66"><b>Remember what comes easy to you might be difficult at first for someone else</b>.</p><p id="7dc1">Even though I’ve always been the type with a lot of hobbies and with a drive for always finding new ones, I’ve never thought I could inspire others to pursue them as well. Thankfully, now I know better. Just as I wanted to get better at practicing my hobbies, others want that too!</p><p id="b441">Read and reread this chapter as many times as you need to realize you have a lot of knowledge that others can benefit from, simply because they don’t have it yet and you do!</p><h2 id="7066">4. Learn to take a punch</h2><p id="1966" type="7">“I ain’t going to give up. Every time you think I’m one place, I’m going to show up someplace else. I come pre-hated. Take your best shot” — Cyndi Lauper</p><p id="5ca2">As much as we would want to be admired and praised all the time, we understand that we can’t please everyone. There will always be people who won’t like what we share simply because it’s not resonating with their beliefs. Or maybe they’re just mean and bored and want to drop a nasty comment, just because.</p><p id="033f">Regardless of the reason, negative comments aren’t easy to swallow. It takes time and experience to choose the ones which are constructive and ignore the ones which are simply mean. However, it shouldn’t stop you from continuing your journey.</p><p id="c788">I loved this chapter because it was purely honest, yet still encouraging.</p><h2 id="442e">5. Stick around</h2><p id="162c" type="7">“Work is never finished, only abandoned” — Paul Valery</p><p id="17a8">The last chapter comes as a takeaway for the reader assuming you’ve finished all the other chapters so far and you are a little more confident than before. It teaches us that the ‘sticking around’ part is just as important as our struggle with all the other parts.</p><h1 id="49f0">In conclusion</h1><p id="58e3">As my takeaway for the readers, I strongly recommend this book. The author’s honesty was the most helpful and made me realize that my motivation wasn’t actually lost. It was waiting for me to come up to my senses and get back to my work, without all the fears I had dragging me down.</p><p id="5016">We all have something useful to offer, as our lives are the sum of our experiences. The more you live, the more you experience, the more you can share.</p></article></body>

One Book That Helped Me Recover My Motivation

Great things happen to those stepping out of their comfort zone

As content creators, we’re often susceptible to feeling like we’re running out of ideas. This leads to us not feeling well enough and even losing the motivation to keep going.

Maybe it’s not the same for all of you out there. If that’s the case, I’m thrilled for you! Having an endless source of inspiration is an undeniably useful asset.

If you feel you are falling into the other category of people with great ideas here and there and off-time in between, one in which I also consider myself to be, then this article is for you.

I know that a single book won’t be able to solve all of your problems, but for sure this one I’m writing about will lift your spirits and make you realize anyone can create great content for their audience.

Why did I lose my motivation?

I don’t think I have a specific answer to this question, nor can I point my finger at something in particular. What caused it was more of a conglomerate of different feelings, converging into a mood I wanted to snap out of.

Those feelings were arising from fears I didn’t want to accept or didn’t know I had all along. You may feel like resonating with some of them:

the fear of not being good enough
the fear of not being constant in what I create
the fear of being forgotten
the fear of not writing up to my viral pieces
the fear of not writing something inspiring/useful for others

The list can go on and differ from one person to another. However, I believe the aspects I’ve mentioned will resonate with many of you since they are pretty generic and commonly found in human behavior.

The good news is that we’re totally ‘treatable patients’, given that those fears I’ve mentioned are not solid ones, but are rather caused by not having the arguments to eliminate them.

So, here comes Austin Kleon’s book Show your work!. It has definitely made its point and helped me reduce my anxiety regarding performance and even confirmed to me I’m on a good path and I should just stick to it and have more confidence in myself.

How did this book help?

It’s not your usual self-help book. The author won’t pat you on the back and say it’s okay, you have a fear of the dark. Instead, he will make you overcome that fear, step out of your comfort zone, and assure you there are great things waiting for you once you do that.

It is structured in ten chapters, with suggestive titles so that you can easily reread a chapter if needed. All of them are great, but five in particular really made a difference.

1. You don’t have to be a genius

“That’s all any of us are: amateurs. We don’t live long enough to be anything else” — Charlie Chaplin

I don’t think we’re being told this enough. Actually, I don’t think we’re being told this at all.

The world is filled with amateurs, who learn from other amateurs how to be successful. That’s it.

This chapter was my favorite for the fact it talks about how being a genius is such a rare thing that it shouldn’t even matter to us. We should only focus on being the best version of ourselves.

Also, it explains how people are more drawn to listening to beginners rather than experts (or geniuses, as we call them). When you become so experienced in a field, it’s hard to remember how it was for you at the start of your journey, whereas a beginner can be a better teacher given that he/she recently took the same steps you will.

This is something I needed someone to say or write in order to believe it myself.

2. Share something small every day

“If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive” — Kenneth Goldsmith

This is more like a little trick to let your audience get an insight into your life. People enjoy being a part of something and your projects make no exception.

It might be a newsletter, some articles that are related to one another, or the announcement of a new project. It can be anything! Just make sure you’re letting people know you’re still alive, still in the process of creating. You don’t have to write something that will go viral every day, but you want people to see your name pop up and remember they’ve read one of your viral articles.

3. Teach what you know

“The impulse to keep to yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive. Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes.” — Annie Dillard

Even if you don’t consider yourself as someone whose abilities/knowledge can be useful to others, reconsider!

Remember what comes easy to you might be difficult at first for someone else.

Even though I’ve always been the type with a lot of hobbies and with a drive for always finding new ones, I’ve never thought I could inspire others to pursue them as well. Thankfully, now I know better. Just as I wanted to get better at practicing my hobbies, others want that too!

Read and reread this chapter as many times as you need to realize you have a lot of knowledge that others can benefit from, simply because they don’t have it yet and you do!

4. Learn to take a punch

“I ain’t going to give up. Every time you think I’m one place, I’m going to show up someplace else. I come pre-hated. Take your best shot” — Cyndi Lauper

As much as we would want to be admired and praised all the time, we understand that we can’t please everyone. There will always be people who won’t like what we share simply because it’s not resonating with their beliefs. Or maybe they’re just mean and bored and want to drop a nasty comment, just because.

Regardless of the reason, negative comments aren’t easy to swallow. It takes time and experience to choose the ones which are constructive and ignore the ones which are simply mean. However, it shouldn’t stop you from continuing your journey.

I loved this chapter because it was purely honest, yet still encouraging.

5. Stick around

“Work is never finished, only abandoned” — Paul Valery

The last chapter comes as a takeaway for the reader assuming you’ve finished all the other chapters so far and you are a little more confident than before. It teaches us that the ‘sticking around’ part is just as important as our struggle with all the other parts.

In conclusion

As my takeaway for the readers, I strongly recommend this book. The author’s honesty was the most helpful and made me realize that my motivation wasn’t actually lost. It was waiting for me to come up to my senses and get back to my work, without all the fears I had dragging me down.

We all have something useful to offer, as our lives are the sum of our experiences. The more you live, the more you experience, the more you can share.