Self-defeating mental process, pt. 1

In the past, I’ve struggled to follow through with finishing creative projects. Can you relate? I come up with an idea I’m excited about, put down notes for how I’d do it, and then get held up thinking through every detail of how to build the house before I lay a single brick. Planning stops, and I don’t follow through with the idea. Enter: self doubt and feeling “not good enough.” Yuck.

This unfulfilling mental process goes something like:
- Have an idea for something to create.
- Narrow in on the theme of content.
- Pick a medium.
- Get excited and announce the project (loudly).
- Write out some topics.
- Get held up trying to decide on a distribution method or content specifics.
- Halt planning. Feel bad about myself.
- Put “start writing that new thing” on my to-do list for weeks.
- The idea fades away.

*Cringe*

So I have another idea. A big one that, as usual, I’m excited about. I’ve got to interrupt the defeating process I’ve unintentionally made my default. Today, I read this passage in Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity:

I wore out a pen when scribbling notes down on each of the 5 steps. Having a clear purpose (intention, the “why”), principles (boundaries to work within) and outcome vision (the result of doing the thing) made the brainstorm much easier.

Still though, I find myself rushing to the end and thinking about every detail of the finished product. This stops me from writing the first line. My detail-dwelling is surely a way to avoid the hard part of putting words on paper. I’m also noticing that this project has been on my to-do list for a week and I haven’t laid a brick yet. Argh.

So how do we overcome mental blocks like this? Seriously hoping that self awareness is the first step.

Progress on this story to be continued…