Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary came up with this idea of challenging her fellow bloggers into posting every day for a week. It was supposed to get your blogging grove going while taming that inner perfectionist that is never satisfied enough to actually hit the "Publish" button.
For the most part, it's been easy for me this week. Today, Day #6, is the first day that I've sat down and wondered why I signed up for this. I'm busy, after all. That's my go-to excuse lately, but that's just my excuse. My real reason is that inner demon who tends to turn anything I do into an accusation of me or it being "not good enough."
I'm not unique in this. Everyone has to face down this particular demon. We're all continually telling ourselves we're not good enough to make the grade, fit in, get that raise, or deserve any kind of love or respect. The Self-Esteem Movement of the 90s was rather silly, but it was custom made to address those inner insecurities.
Let me let you in on a little, middle aged secret. To combat that lying inner voice that is constantly belittling you and your efforts, you do exactly what I'm doing here. You leap. You forge ahead. You act as if that voice didn't exist. You behave as if you were confident, or deserving, or competent and then simply do whatever that voice is trying to stop you from doing.
That's the cure. The voice never goes away, really, but he has to change his tune after a success or two. Then it says, "That was good, so good, in fact, that you'll never measure up to that level again. Better quit now." The same cure applies.
So, since I answered Jennifer's challenge, I would like to challenge you. If you've got something in you and you've been allowing it to be bullied out of existence by the "Not Good Enough"s, it's time to leap. Let whatever it is that is in you be born. Let it breathe a bit.
Some things worth doing are worth doing badly. Just do it. You can always spiffy things up much better after they actually exist.
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