Monday Motivation - Play Offense, Not Defense

Welcome to Monday Motivation – Play Offense, Not Defense

 

I grew up playing football and sports in general, so I tend to see parts of the writing life through an athletic lens. “Play offense, not defense” is a football term that was adopted in the business world. In business, the point is that it’s easy to look over at a competitor and try and do what they are doing. In defensive mode, you are always reacting, always trying to catch up to a good idea from someone else. Businesses like this are fearful, they look at the world as a zero-sum game, where only a few win and many others most lose. 

 

We play a lot of defense in the writing life. It is just so easy to compare ourselves to others. Here are some of my favorites:

Who is publishing before me?Who is writing more than me?Who seems to be writing in a happier mood than me?Who is just a plain better writer than me? 

And on and on and on. 

 

Writing is a risky, solitary activity. There aren’t a lot of other things we do where we sit by ourselves for long periods of time and then expose our heart for the world to see. Oh, and along the way we get little to no feedback.

 

And so it is natural that we look at what others are doing and ask the question, “am I okay?” 

 

And what happens? Oftentimes, we see the success of those around us. We don’t see the struggle, and so we think we are doing something wrong. If this person is a publishing monster and here I can’t seem to get through a manuscript, something must be wrong with me… right? 

 

No.

 

I’m not here to absolve you of personal growth, but to point out that you are on your own path, and there is so little to gain from comparing yourself to someone else.

 

Playing offense means you keep your eyes on your writing journey. You wake up to tell your story on the timeframe that works for you. You write with your heart. You publish when it is time. You play your own offense, not defense. 

 

This is hard as hell, but releasing yourself from the comparison game is a powerful gift. And it is free, to give to yourself. 

 

Before we go, I am offering a month of daily free coaching sessions. Basically, each day there is a 60-minute slot open. If we haven’t had a coaching call before, you can sign up for the day that works for you and bring any topic you want to the table. Stuck on a manuscript? Dealing with doubt? Writers block? We’ll spend 60 minutes driving towards a plan to help you out. To sign up, go to www.howwriterswrite.com/30days. 

 

Thank you for listening, and I hope you have a wonderful week of writing.

 

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