Write of Passage Weekly - Stuck on the Sidelines

Hi there,

People reach out to me all the time, wanting to write online. Most of them are so focused on what other people are doing (and how much farther ahead everyone else is). But if they had started writing a year ago, they would be so much closer to where they want to be now.

Can you relate?

You want to write online, but you’re riddled with self-doubt. You fear you’re not good enough, so you anticipate judgment from friends and criticism from people you’ve never met. Think about that. You have so much to offer the world. Your ideas are worthy. But every moment you worry about someone else’s opinion of you, you put a halt to your ideas and miss out. I watch it happen all the time to smart people who can’t get over the publishing hurdle. Whenever they try to publish, anxiety takes over.

Enter imposter syndrome, writer’s block, paralysis (hey, who invited you?)!

At the same time, you are hyper-aware of everyone else and their impressive online audience. You think, “That’s supposed to be me. I can do that.” You’re right. You can.

After working with more than a thousand students, I’m 100 percent confident that bad ideas are not what holds you back. Does this sound familiar?

• You have a decade of career experience but have never published a single essay about what you’ve learned. Ouch.
• You can wow your friends but can’t muster the courage to share your ideas in public. Ugh.
• You’re asked for your insights and opinions about the same topic over and over, but you only share them one-on-one. Truth.

These are signs that your ideas are great! But inaction only has one cure.

It’s not that you haven’t tried. Maybe you have a website. Maybe you’ve published a couple of articles, but even though they’re “public,” you’re too scared to tell anyone they exist (you actually pray nobody finds them). So, your ideas remain locked inside you like dirty little secrets.

Deep down, you feel contradictory emotions: you don’t want anybody to see what you’ve written, but you’re frustrated that nobody reads your work. What a cycle.

You quit.

The emotional pain of publishing is too much to handle. While quitting is the easy way out, or so it seems, it brings up terrible feelings of guilt and inadequacy.

And, so, as your thumbs scroll Twitter, you feel a blend of envy and regret. Your mind buzzes with a background noise that says: "My writing should be celebrated. I'm smart. I have good ideas to share with the world. I want to be heard."

Thousands of people feel this way. Like you, all of them could 2x their potential with the only true antidote to envy: action! Imagine the rewards:

• You smile as your fingers click across the keyboard in the morning, this time without the paralysis of writer’s block.
• You have a website you’re proud of, which reflects your personality and interests.
• You’ve written and published several articles representing your best thinking that make others say: “Wow, I didn’t realize you knew so much about that.”
• Your heart swells with pride when friends at work compliment your writing and nominate you for a promotion.

Most of all, you experience an identity shift. You are a writer. Finally! Armed with courage and confidence, you look in the mirror and see a Citizen of the Internet.

I want this for you. Do you want it for yourself? If you’re ready to share yourself with the world, meet your intellectual matches, and level up your entire life, I urge you to join us for the next Write of Passage Cohort. Enrollment opens on September 12. This is my life’s work — helping you gain more freedom, meaning, and influence through writing online.

Chat soon,

David

P.S. This cohort has a cap on new students, which allows us to deliver the best possible experience. It’s first come, first serve. But because you’re on this private email list, you can sign up for our pre-enrollment list. By doing so, you'll be able to enroll 24 hours before the general public (next Monday) and guarantee your spot.