Today I am Uninspired to write anything. Which is weird, because it was only an hour ago I was running along next to the river in my little village that no-one has heard of, feeling so excited to sit down and write and now I’m here with nothing to write about.
Yet, here I am writing. Because I know that writing is a skill which requires practice. And writing is something I want to become good at. Write write write, write write write write write. Ummm, does this count? Is simply the act of putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) enough to classify as practice? I doubt it. Will my personal standards for my writing change as I write? It seems to be the case, as I hate reading anything I wrote more than about 20 mins beforehand. However, I think this is mostly due to the cringe factor, that I’m writing about more personal things, or I’m starting to share my work and thus have to deem it ‘good enough’ at some point or another and cringe at myself for thinking that anything was ever ‘good enough’.
I hear everyone say that consistency is key. Persistence is vital. Are these not the same things? Maybe the skill that separates achievers from the wannabes is the fact that the achievers are doing the thing the wannabes keep talking about. And they do it consistently.
I remember reading a book in which the main character was complaining that the girl turning the most heads in the room wasn’t even the most beautiful. But, the key was that she considered herself the most beautiful. Think of the power of that.
There is a saying that says the following:
You are not who you think you are. You are not what other people think you are. You are, in fact, what you think other people think you are.
Once you can wrap your head around the meaning of that statement, you are left with the knowledge that the power is in your hands. You can craft the image you think other people perceive when they look at you. And this image can instill within you the confidence to become talented at something, even though you are distinctly average. This knowledge has the power to change talkers into doers. To give the confidence and self-belief to do what you want to do with conviction.
There have been times where I’ve looked at successful people and thought that they weren’t so great at what they do. I could’ve done what they did and probably a lot better.
But they did do it.
And I didn’t.
You are, in fact, what you think other people think you are.
