Writers, what’s the biggest obstacle holding you back?

Lack of time and too many commitments?

Your day job?

Writer’s block?

No, sorry, I don’t think so. Your biggest writing obstacle is definitely not a “what” but a WHO.

Ah, then it has to be your kids, right?

Or maybe that spouse of yours or your fabulous significant other who takes up all your time?

Nope.

Then who?  Spell that “who” obstacle Y-O-U.

In reading Wayne Dyer’s Excuses Begone!: How to Change Lifelong, Self-Defeating Thinking Habits, I have realized that my excuses, which are really my false beliefs about what I can’t do, hold me back and prevent forward motion, like giant boulders on my path. But…nobody else except little ol’ me is responsible for me. And all those obstacles I create? They’re really nothing but excuses—my very own writing excuses.

Writers are creative and quite capable of crafting any number of writing excuses about why we can’t write, can’t publish, can’t start writing at this “old” age, can’t possibly finish a manuscript, yadda, yadda….

If you’re not creative enough to create your own excuses (or the more likely scenario is that these excuses have become so ingrained in you that you aren’t capable of recognizing them for what they are), Wayne Dyer’s book lists 18 common excuses plus the affirmations to counteract them. I’m sure you’ll find one that fits you.

For instance, if your excuse is “It will be difficult” (it’s too hard to write a book, it’s too hard to submit work, it’s too hard to put myself out there, etc.), he suggests replacing the excuse with this affirmation: “I have the ability to accomplish any task I set my mind to with ease and comfort.”

If you realize that you’re the one standing in your own way, check out this Ray Bradbury video I discovered in my work with fearful flyers. Fear is fear whether it’s fear of flying, fear of writing a book or an article, fear of publishing, fear of submitting, whatever.  Excuses and other obstacles standing in our way likely originate in fear.

Fear keeps us from moving forward to be all we can be, to go where we’re supposed to go, to do what we’re meant to do. In the video Ray Bradbury realizes the choke-hold that fear had on him, and he shares his wise realization:  He was the one standing in his own way.

Are you?

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Before I begin my Morning Pages, I open my office window.  Early morning in Arizona is the best time of day—the only time to enjoy an open window. As I write, I enjoy an occasional waft of a breeze and birds busily greeting the new day.

Specifically it’s one bird I notice, one with such a melodious song that I lift my pen from the page to listen. What kind of bird makes that sound?

I’m familiar with the voices of the mourning doves and their sad songs. I know the question the quail repeatedly asks from his perch, “What?” And the mean-voiced gackles with their accusaatory racket is hard to ignore: “Baaaaad, baaaaddd, BAD!”

But above all the other bird sounds, this one bird sings. He doesn’t stop when the gackles barrel out their racketing calls. He doesn’t stop when the quail questions. He doesn’t even get sad when the mourning doves sing of sorrow and loss.

He just sings.

Today as I listen to his song, I remember this Chinese proverb: “The bird doesn’t sing because he has a question. He sings because he has a song.”

And I get it. This bird and his beautiful song aren’t interrupted by anything. Not the internal editor who sounds very much like a gackle calling, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can’t!” Not the questioning discouragement from those who have failed: “What are you thinking?  What a crazy idea to write a book! What makes you think you’re good enough?”  Not the sad voices of the past that taunt with old failures. Not the voice of fear that paralyzes and keeps me stuck.

Just sing the song in your heart, this bird advises me. No questions. No interruptions. No problem.

This morning I realized that my open window days are coming to an end as the humidity of July moves in, so I record the bird’s joyous song on my iPhone for those dragged-down, doldrum days when I need a reminder to sing. If you need encouragement to sing your song today, you can listen if you  click here .

Then go sing your own song. Whether it’s in your writing or in another creative project, we are made to sing—even if an internal editor or critic isn’t singing the same song.

What encourages you when you’re discouraged on the writing path?

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