I have to dive into this post today. No pretty preamble. No poetic flare. Fuck it. I just have to write, because self-doubt will win if I don’t.
I recently wrote about the importance of vulnerability in art. That post seemed to strike a chord with a lot of Steemians. I argued that vulnerability is a key ingredient in the creation of true art, and that art without vulnerability is a hollow creation.
Today, I am going to talk about a human trait that has no place in art: self-doubt.
Self-Doubt
Almost every time I sit down to write, I am bombarded by thoughts that try to stop me from writing. “It won’t be as good as the last piece. I am not feeling inspired. I don’t think I can make it happen today.” Needless to say, it is hard to feel creative when I am beating my creativity to death with self-doubt.
But allow me to share a confession with you. My most successful post on Steemit was the post that I had the most self-doubt about. I disliked the final product of that post so much that I almost didn’t publish it. I thought those words were destine for the junkyard of the internet.
That “shitty post” made over $120.
If I had listened to my self-doubt, I would have missed out on the early success that I have enjoyed on Steemit.
Self-doubt often isn’t based in fact. Self-doubt is your fragile ego trying to keep you safe from ridicule.
I felt immense self-doubt about that post, because it was the realest and most vulnerable post that I had published on Steemit. Self-doubt was trying to keep me from committing the dangerous act of creating something wonderful.
Self-Doubt Crushes Creativity
We are all creative. Anyone that tells you otherwise is full of shit. The reason why some people appear to be uncreative is that they have censored themselves through self-doubt. Self-doubt tells you that your ideas aren’t good enough. The connections you are making aren’t valid. Whatever you are interested in is stupid, and you should just fall back in line.
However, all children are creative, because they have no learned the malicious habit of self-doubt. There are very few children that have difficulty playing make-believe. Children have no trouble inventing new games on the spot. Children find amusement in whatever tickles their fancy. And all of this is possible, because children don’t censor themselves into creative silence.
Adults are different. We are well-versed in the fine art of shaming the ever-loving shit out of ourselves. We’ve had the weight of the world’s disappointments and our own internal nagging wear our creativity down to dust. Hierarchy, organization, and bureaucracy have told us that there is a “right way” to do everything and anything. Stay inside the lines, and don’t deviate, unless you want self-doubt to strike you down.
Self-doubt is cancer to creativity. Self-doubt has no place in art.
Let It Fucking Rip
Some artists are snipers. They take their time, and they always hit the target. They are calculated, poised, and certain of their craft. They can approach the art of creation from a steady and mature standpoint. I think artistic-snipers are often veterans of their craft, and this type of composure is learned over thousands of executions.
If you’re new to your craft, you need to be a gunslinger. Better yet, a drunken gunslinger. You need to be squirrely and unpredictable. Shoot from the hip and empty both barrels. By just letting it fucking rip, you don’t allow self-doubt to worm its way into your mind. You won’t always hit the target, but you take so many shots that you’ll hit it once in awhile.
Is what I wrote good? Is it long enough? Is it what I set out to create? What will people say?
Fuck it.
Hit post. Ship it. Send it out into the world.
You’re a gunslinger that has had one too many. You don’t have time to second guess yourself and invite self-doubt into your art.
Create first. Ask questions later.
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I think I should get, "Let It Fucking Rip" tattooed on my forehead - LOL!
Seriously, I love the sharpshooter/gunslinger analogy. I feel like I was aiming for sharpshooting on my Wordpress blog, but here I'm getting my gunslinger groove on!
Wicked awesome post, and I'm giving you a big...
You need to photoshop that tattoo for me and send it to the Steemit Bloggers Discord. Or just actually get it. I'm sure it would look amazing lol.
Yeah, when we agonize over creating, we get very little done. Maybe one day we'll be snipers, but in the mean time, we need to be sloppy gunslingers ;)
hahaha! I want to see that tattoo ;)
Wow wonderful write up... Seems like you could see through my mind
Sometimes I don't get inspired to write but you just changed my whole perspective of things
I am happy you enjoyed the post. Get writing!
Wow Chris, another super inspiring post! I love love love the image in the analogy to what beginner artists should be. It makes it easy to get into a headspace for creativity.
By the way, have you ever read "The War of Art" by Steven Pressfield? (I've talked about it with a few friends and I can't remember if you were one of those people.) He outlines a concept of Resistance which I think you'd find interesting.
Hmmmm... I think we might have talked about it! Because I really enjoyed that book and agreed with most of his ideas. His concept of "resistance" seemed to go beyond mere self-doubt. I think self-doubt is more personal than resistance, but similar in its own way.
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just do it! hahaha. I'm learning to learn on the go :)
A little Shia Labeouf reference there? ;)
more to the swoosh ad when I grew up. hehe. how's UFC? :)
I got too tired to order the pay per view hahaha. I watched all the prelim stuff, but I wasn't too excited about the main card. I am pumped for the Jan 20th card though!
ahh. good for you. I'm all crazy about NBA though. I do subscribe and I think it's cheaper over here in Malaysia. :)
Good post self doubt sucks but sometimes what you think is a dud is really a great peice.
Haha right? How is it that we can be such bad judges of our own work?
From someone who has sort of ruined his life through self doubt and fear of judgement, thank you for this post
You're most welcome. I certainly hope that you can feel some relief from self-doubt and judgement. They are a tricky duo of demons to conquer, and I am no where near done with them yet. I hope that you can find some ways to turn down the volume on those shitty voices and just act on what you feel is important to you.
Feels like this post was written just for me. :) Cheers @chrismccron. Hope your day is going well mate. :)
Oh shoot! I forgot to write in "Dedicated to @Tonyr" at the top! I meant to add that in. Have a great day!
:) You too, my friend and a great 2018. :)
Inspiring post! In my opinion, self-doubt killed way too many dreams than anything else. Thanks for this! Keep it up
Yeah. It works on your brain until you convince yourself that your intuitions are stupid. When in reality, some of those intuitions are really strong signals of where you should be taking your life.
Great post as always! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you too Gina! Thanks for stopping by. Always appreciate seeing you on my blog. I've been loving the photos you've been posting lately. :)
This post has won a week's worth of supply of bananas 🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌. Congratulations @Chris McCron.
Ha! That makes everything worth it! I can now retire from Steemit... For a month. Later, I will need to come back for more bananas. ;)
I agree. 😂😂😁😁🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌🍌
I do self doubt everytime I have to write a new post! Same as you kept worrying if it won't be as good as the one get upvoted by curie. But at the end fuck it, just freaking post it! You're not going to win the lottery all the time. Accept that reality, your creativity will flow :)
I'm glad I'm not alone in those feelings! It's an odd habit of the mind. Why can't we just sit down and write? It takes a little determination to push past those initial thoughts and just let it all go.
Yeap the first step in everything is the hardest :) You wrote good post most of the time :) DOn't worry!