This blog has been a gigantic time sucking leech stuck to my butt for the last week.
It’s been singularly unrewarding, frustrating and downright maddening to write.
Do you know how many stupid hours I’ve sat here, in my blogging chair, writing content for you that’s turned out to to be useless?
SO.MANY.HOURS.
I’m never getting them back.
Never.
I mean, I’ve come up with some epically boring stuff here. And the stuff that wasn’t dull was definitely wordy, repetitive or written in a ridiculous “I know it all” style that’s never going to fly with my people.
Shoot.
One of the blogs I started actually has promise, BUT, it’s a story about someone in my life. I need to ask his permission if I can tell the story and I haven’t. I haven’t asked because I’m afraid of being perceived as a creepy stalker girl who’s got nothing better to do than tell stories about the weird stuff she does.
(You’re thinking about that about me right now, aren’t you?)
Dang it.
OK.
Deep breaths. Stay with me.
I’m feeling a bit better now that I’ve gotten all of that off of my chest.
Here’s the deal. You’ve lost your cool about something in your work life like I just did. You’ve spent ridiculous amounts of time preparing for a meeting, presentation or some other big item on your to-do list. You’ve worked and reworked your content. You’ve tried too hard to make “it” happen.
(You’ve even muttered the words “this blows” under your breath even though you’re supposed to be uber professional).
You’ve failed to generate something that lives up to your expectations and quite possibly everyone else’s.
And guess what? You’re going to do it again… and again… and again.
That is…if you ever want to get better at whatever it is you’re trying to do.
In fact, times like these happen way more often than the easy, effortless ones. It’s part of the process of becoming good (maybe even great) at something.
And, it’s not all worthless, wasted effort. If we pay attention to what’s going on when things get hard, we can learn a lot.
Here’s what I learned from this abysmal blogging experience;
1.) Trying too hard generates fake results that others will notice.
This blog started as “the power of your leadership story.” Womp Womp, it was definitely an “Alex, you’re trying too hard” production that you would’ve called me on.
2.) Keep the good parts.
Despite my rant about the lameness of my writing attempts, some of the things I came up with were good. I’m saving them. You need to save the parts of your project that are worth a second look.
3.) Stop beating yourself up.
You aren’t going to get it right and get better every time. Accept that and keep working. Mental beatings will only slow your process down.
Keep these tips in mind the next time you find yourself banging your head against a wall about a project you’re frustrated with.
With that said, I’m putting this blog and myself to bed.
Come on now, you’re getting a kick out of these blogs, aren’t you? Go ahead and click on the follow button and never miss a post (abysmal or not) from me!