Now that I’m squarely in 2019, it’s around this time that my New Year momentum starts to dip. By the time I’m 3 or 4 weeks into a new year my attention starts to shift elsewhere and the goal I’m working on gets sidelined. Sometimes it’s because I’m clocking more hours at the job or multi-tasking too many things. Other times it’s because something more pressing pops up. Whatever the case, whenever I’m ready to turn back to my goal, it takes me a minute to gear up again. Even though I eventually find my rhythm, I get frustrated by the fact that I haven’t made as much headway as I would’ve liked.
Whenever progress is slow-going or I find myself in a holding pattern I start to pick apart everything that I’ve done up to that point. Am I going about this all wrong? Should I be concerned with this, that or the other? Should I start over? The questions, the critiques, the second-guessing all mull around in my head on an endless loop, which, by the way, slows me down even more. It’s at this point when the overachiever, the big dreamer and the recovering perfectionist in me all need a pick-me-up. Today, the pick-me-up was this: You don’t need a clean slate to achieve success. It was a much needed reminder that popped into my head today as I debated whether or not to scrap a post. I had been working on a draft for days and it just wasn’t coming together the way I wanted. Each reworked draft felt like a misfire. I was about ready to step away until I caught the word count at the bottom of the page. It was upwards of 4,000 words. All I could think was — It’s buried here somewhere. Among the paragraphs, notes, sidebars and tangents was the story I was trying to convey. I couldn’t bring myself to toss it all aside, so I began chipping away at it. Again. After several hours, I felt like my post had finally turned the corner.
Granted, on the surface, this sounds like the typical writer’s block, but there’s more to it than that. When you’re feeling stuck or going through a rough patch, it’s tempting to start over. After all, a clean slate can be a great catalyst for a breakthrough and who doesn’t want that? However, if your m.o. is to hit the reset button every time you experience a hiccup, misstep or roadblock, you’ll never make any progress. The fresh start you think you’re gaining will inevitably lead you back to the same issue, so you might as well stay put and start chipping away at whatever is in your way. The more adept you get at working through your hangups the better you will be at powering through the next challenge waiting around the corner. So start tackling it, whatever it is. You’ll thank yourself down the road that you did.