He Said It Best

Ugh. Writer’s block. It seems to me like whenever I need to get something done, the difficulty of writing rears its ugly head. I need to get writing…but the words just aren’t coming.

So, to help ease into my work and get those creative juices flowing again, I started reading. I often find that reading helps me see something from a different perspective. A particular word or sentence or syllable can start me up again. It leaves me feeling inspired. More relaxed. In jive with what I’m doing.

While I was reading Chris Guillebeau‘s Brief Guide to World Domination, something hit me. It’s a really good thing to get stuck sometimes; it makes us stop and consider for a moment. We breathe. We reevaluate. We think about where we’re going and how we’re going to get there. My goodness, we really don’t do this often enough.

In Chris’ book (which is fabulous, BTW), he says,

“The truth is that if you want to achieve your most significant goals, and you want to change the world for the better in the process, you really don’t need to jump through all the hoops that people hold up for you.”

Wow. If that doesn’t tell you something important about yourself then I don’t know what else can. My writer’s block was broken. I was holding up a hoop that didn’t need to be there. I created my block. I started to over-analyze and become frustrated. I stopped myself from producing good work because I was afraid of, well, not producing good work.

I’m glad I took the time to read. It was definitely worth it. But I have to wonder: what is it that makes us create our own hoops to jump through? Why do we make messes in our own lives without knowing it? I think we need to take a step back every now and then. Do some reading. Or at least consider another’s perspective. Someone else can sometimes say it best.

“What a piece of work is a man” – from Hamlet by William Shakespeare

What hoop are you creating for your self?

Related articles

• The Art of Non-Conformity (chrisbrogan.com)