People don’t like being criticized even when they ask for criticism.
Why? Because they’re looking for praise. They want confirmation that their creations are good. They’re after compliments, not feedback.
As bad as it may feel, negative feedback is extremely useful. When used correctly, it’s one of the greatest improvement tools we have.
Knowing if we made a mistake or took a wrong turn allows us to correct our course of action. We get to do something about it. Negative feedback, when constructive, helps us to adjust our behavior and see things from a new perspective.
Despite how it may…
You had it all figured out.
You carefully considered what you were going to do and you reached a decision. You committed. You felt confident you did the right thing. Maybe you even felt like a bit of a genius.
The next day, you start questioning yourself. You think, ‘I shouldn’t have done that’ or ‘I could have done this instead’. And suddenly, you don’t feel so damn smart anymore.
Life is brutal that way. It’s an experience we’ve all had and unfortunately, it isn’t one we can avoid.
No matter how diligent we are, there’s always an opportunity to…
I drank my share of pool water.
When I was 8 years old, I took swimming lessons. It wasn’t my idea. But it was fun. I learned to kick with my feet holding onto the side of the pool. I could swim the length of the pool with a foam kickboard. Eventually, I could even do a short distance without it.
But once I got into the deep end, I started sinking. I freaked out. Ironically, I thrashed around like a fish out of water. I had to be rescued on more than one occasion. …
What does it mean to be financially irresponsible?
Is that when someone spends beyond their means and doesn’t save for their future? Is it when they take on too much debt? Does that only apply to credit cards and personal loans, or do you count the mortgage too? Or is it when people with healthy finances spend too much on “trivial” things?
I’m sure if we asked around, we would get different responses each time.
That’s what makes personal finance difficult. Different people have different needs, desires, incomes, and responsibilities. Sure, there are rough guidelines that can benefit most people…
Everyone is afraid of something.
Whenever you produce or even think of producing content, you start grappling with two fundamental fears.
FOMO forces you to act, and Fear of Failure prevents you from doing so. They are opposing forces; emotional conflicts that we can resolve with logical solutions. If you can’t rid yourself of your fears, an imbalance of fear is what you need to progress.
Here’s the relationship between the two: When FOMO > Fear of Failure…
I facepalmed harder than Jean-Luc Picard.
The once quiet voice in my head was now screaming,
You’re supposed to be writing for readers! It doesn’t matter if writers don’t read your work.
And here I was after spending several months trying to get the attention of other writers. I’ve read this advice before but chose to ignore it. There are mistakes you need to make.
Only, this wasn’t a mistake. I wanted their attention and I regret nothing.
Writing can be lonely.
Connecting with other writers makes it infinitely more interesting. They understand what you’re going through and they’re usually…
I love generic self-help.
I am particularly fond of meta statements that seem to address everything and nothing simultaneously. Unsurprisingly, many refer to these statements as ‘spelling out the obvious’ or ‘saying nothing at all’.
It’s also pretty clear that whoever writes this stuff thinks they are quite the smarty pants. As a generic self-help writer myself, I should know.
A blanket statement such as “Context is Key” is as profoundly deep as it is shallow. Ironically or unironically, it too requires context.
So let me give you some.
I don’t like being told what to do or what to…
If I judged my progress by views and money earned, I would have stopped writing a long time ago. Actually, back in July, that’s exactly what I did. I stopped writing after self-publishing 5 articles back in June and getting a total of 5 views.
I couldn’t see a situation where this could scale quickly for me. I had a lot to learn and I returned in August with a longer-term perspective. I wasn’t going to measure my progress in the same way anymore.
I have since written around 100 articles.
Earning pennies per article can make you think small…
Going once…going twice… sold!
Just like that, we lost out on what could’ve been our future home. Actually, the house sold for over $100k more than what my mom was willing to pay for it. It went for 20% above her max bid.
I didn’t understand.
I was 12 years old at the time. And as soon as the hammer dropped, I immediately turned to her in disbelief. She met the bewildered look in my eyes with hers and started laughing. Truth be told, she was a little confused too.
There were plenty of houses in the area selling for…
People procrastinate.
It’s a byproduct of lazy perfectionism or perfect laziness. I’m sure there is no shortage of valid reasons why most people struggle to create content. Reasons aside, the result remains the same.
Crazy good or woefully bad, nothing gets created.
It’s easy to overthink the process. The pressure mounts when you feel the world is judging your work. It’s totally understandable. We have creators we look up to. We admire their high standard of output, mastery of technique, unique style, and almost innate ability to express themselves creatively.
As much as we understand their success is a by-product…
Lover of life and coffee. Bit of a dabbler. Former investment analyst turned pseudo-intellectual. Seeking to provide a different perspective.