When in doubt, keep going
In any direction.
Recently I got stuck, creatively. It wasn’t quite writer’s block; I was still jotting down plenty of notes and ideas, but I couldn’t figure out what my next Medium post should be.
Should I focus on humor? Science? Leadership? Should I keep submitting to publications? If so, which ones? What about members-only articles? Should I plan out a series?
I had a notebook of 40 article ideas, and couldn’t decide which one to pursue next. The more I looked at my choices, the more I delayed my decision.
Someone once gave me a good piece of life advice: You don’t always have to make the best decision. You just have to make a decision.
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity.” - Amelia Earhart
I was worried that my next article would get no views, or that I would confuse readers by not having a consistent theme, but I realized that submitting something was better than nothing.
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” Theodore Roosevelt
There are three ways to make a decision:
1. Take some time / stall
2. Ask someone for advice / seek validation
3. Just pick something / get it over with
Often we know what we want. We have a gut feeling about what’s right for us.
Sometimes we ask people for advice, hoping that they’ll agree with what we decided. Sometimes we stall because we can’t bear to make the choice.
Or we can do it.
I didn’t want to let my fear of failure determine how I wrote. So, I wrote this. And tomorrow I’ll write something else.
Maybe a consistent theme will develop over time. Maybe I’ll still write on a variety of topics. Either way, I decided to keep submitting.
