I developed one skill over the past 12 years of being a blogger that stands out from all else.
I accept myself – largely – to be avoid needlessly judging my work. I write a post. I publish a post. I am OK with that. I do not feel stricken by the perfection curse because I largely love and accept myself. Who needs to be perfect if you feel good about yourself?
Being genuine does not hurt. I tell my story. I exit stage left.
Meanwhile, a large group of bloggers ruthlessly criticizes their work. I know some bloggers who edit posts for hours until publishing the post. I am for clarity, intelligible writing and maintaining a professional air, but anything beyond is wasteful.
Who cares?
Think about that question for a moment. If you blog from the heart, the only critics seem to be people who do not blog from their heart. Or critics seem to be people who have not loved and accepted themselves.
I read about a world famous comedian who hopped on a message board recently. The thread seemed designed to mock him caustically. He – being afraid – joined the chat to defend himself. Why defend yourself against judgmental, unhappy, unclear people who do not love and accept themselves? Critics have nothing to do with you. Criticism is a projection; critics speak of themselves, not you, because humans see the world as humans see themselves.
Being needlessly judgmental of your work is a plea to appeal to critics who will criticize you anyway. Why try to force the blind, to see? I recall viewing a 1 star review of my first eBook. I wrote an in-depth, 80 page guide on how to retire to a life of island hopping through smart blogging. The 1 star reviewer said the eBook was about me walking on the beach with dogs.
Fear-pain-suffering in *her* minded blinded her to the 80 pages of palpable, helpful, in-depth blogging tips I share, to the point where she remarked how the 80 pages of blogging tips (truth) was really me talking about walking on the beach with dogs (fear-illusion).
Literally, fear made her insane. Insane people ignore truth to step into the fear-illusion of her suffering. She is unhappy. Why would I judge myself, my eBooks and my work to appease unhappy people who will always be unhappy and judgmental, no matter the work I do, if they choose not to face their fears? See how it literally makes zero sense to needlessly judge yourself and your work?
Practice
Hey; you do need to practice to gain:
- skills
- exposure
- credibility
in your chosen discipline. But each expands organically if you simply practice, observe your work and get clearer. Nobody wins by beating themselves up. I did this for a long time with my basketball career – from high school to JUCO – and it backfired, big time. I practiced obsessively. I developed serious shooting skills, a decent handle and solid foot speed. But the split second I screwed up in games, I beat myself up, being angry with myself and I underperformed the rest of the game, in most cases.
I learned my lesson. I accept me. I accept my blogging work. Take it or leave it.
