Everyone has a story to tell. You do not have to consider yourself a ‘writer’ to have the desire to find your voice and express yourself. But, too often people, women especially, believe their voices are not worthy of being shared, or that their stories are not important enough, or that they do not have whatever magical talents they think are necessary to share their words with the world. This is not true. These are limiting beliefs.
Limiting beliefs can be crippling. They limit us from being and doing and showing up in the world as our true selves. Limiting beliefs act like a creative cork and stop the flow of our ideas. With writing, if often goes like this:
- A writer feels an idea percolating or a story brewing
- They make time to write and begin exploring their idea
- They read what they wrote and judge it. They decide they don’t think it is good enough or they share it with a friend whose critique discourages them
- They start to stumble and feel uncertain; writing becomes less enjoyable
- They give up
Writers tell me that, deep down, they were plagued by a belief system that told them their story was not enough—not big enough or important enough or worthy enough to justify spending time writing about it. They tell me they felt they did not have the authority, wisdom, talent, or commitment to write. They tell me that giving up made them miserable because they deeply wanted to write, but they could not muster the energy or focus or inspiration to keep going. I tell them that writing while holding limiting beliefs about writing is hard. But that does not mean you should give up your writing. It means you should give up your limiting beliefs.
When we believe we are not enough—not smart enough, good enough, talented enough, young enough, important enough, or whatever enough—writing feels like walking through mud. You can get through the mud, but it requires a Herculean effort, and it takes forever. We can write with fear, but it is slow and full of effort. If we want our words to flow, we have to be willing to give up our limiting beliefs. So where to get started? Here are 5 questions to consider:
1.What are some beliefs I hold about the value of my work?
2. Do my beliefs support my creative goals?
3. If they do not, am I willing to revise them or release them?
4. What beliefs can I create that support my growing creativity?
5. How can I create a practice to anchor to these new beliefs? Read them daily? Post them on my mirror?
Developing new beliefs that actively support your creative goals takes time. You have to be willing to investigate your belief system and to acknowledge that, too often, we are mired in beliefs that come from childhood, that are self-sabotaging, or simply no longer fit. Changing our belief system and consciously designing new beliefs that are supportive, nurturing, and uplifting can cause that cork of judgment to pop—and suddenly our process feels freer than ever before.
I like to say that, as writers, we can have fear or flow, but not both. Judging makes us fearful of revealing ourselves lest we find ourselves ‘not good enough.’ Letting go of judgment and embracing a new, supportive belief system allows our ideas to flow effortlessly onto the page. Fear or flow? The choice is yours.
Robin Finn MPH, MA, is an award-winning writer, teacher, and author of the new book, Heart. Soul. Pen.: Find Your Voice on the Page and in Your Life (Morehouse Publishing, May 14, 2024). Her work has appeared in national and international press, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. She holds master’s degrees in public health from Columbia University and in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica. Find her at www.robinfinn.com.
