#184 Why bad work is necessary

You build self-trust by taking actions – Tiny Trust Builders – in alignment with who you want to be.

I want to be a writer, and build self-trust by writing every day, even if it’s just one line.

I want to learn Portuguese, and build self-trust by practicing every day, even if it’s just 2 minutes.

But often, what stops you from taking these actions in the first place is a lack of trust in yourself.

I don’t trust myself to write every day – I’ll give up anyway.

I don’t trust myself to learn Portuguese every day – I’ll probably get busy and skip a day.

There’s only one way out of this vicious cycle:

When you don’t trust yourself to take the actions, you take a leap of faith instead.

Because with every leap, fear turns into faith, and faith into trust.

Trust you must.

You’re likely to encounter consistency challenges.

After all, nobody feels motivated every day.

Maybe you’ll have a day where you’re busy or not feeling great, and writing, running, or doing yoga, seems like the last thing you want to do.

Luckily, you don’t need to feel motivated to write one sentence.

You don’t even need to want to write to have words appear on the screen or paper.

You just need to be reminded that you want to be a writer.

And writers write, even if they don’t feel like it.

And so it goes for runners, yogis, meditators, athletes, crafstmen, lovers.

If you knew you’d always feel unsatisfied with what you write, would you still let satisfaction play a role in your writing process?

If you knew your writing would always be criticized by others, no matter how good it is, would you still let their criticism determine whether you should publish?

If you’d take the fear that stops you the most and rob it of its power, would you write and publish more?