Write of Passage Weekly - Getting Out of Your Own Way

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Hey writers,

Have you felt this before? No matter your level of experience, sharing your ideas can trigger your ruthless inner critic: 

“You’re not good enough.” 

“Who cares what you think?” 

“Someone else already knows more than you ever will.”  

Your inner critic circles like a hungry vulture, waiting to pick you apart. It swoops down at the most crucial moment: when it’s time to sit down and write.

So, you freeze. Second-guess. Your hands hover over your keyboard, and that pesky voice rings again in your head: Who do you think you are? 

You self-sabotage before you even start. 

What would it mean to get out of your own way and put words on the page? 

Write of Passage alum Amanda Natividad offers a great example.  

Amanda had built a strong career — first as a journalist with Adweek, then as Head of Marketing at a growing startup. Despite all that, Amanda worried her ideas didn’t deserve attention. At least, that’s what she told herself. She wanted to write online, but her fears held her back.

Two years ago, as a Write of Passage student, Amanda faced those fears. She built a personal website and started publishing each week. Mentors and fellow students helped her smash through mental barriers. 

Fast forward to today — Amanda has over 130,000 Twitter followers, 11,000 newsletter subscribers, and 35,000 fans on LinkedIn. Undeserving? Uninteresting? Amanda is the exact opposite.

Amanda has also accelerated her career with her writing. One of her longtime role-models, startup founder Rand Fishkin, followed her on Twitter. She was stunned. For two days, she stopped posting. She was paralyzed by what he would think.

But she pushed past her inner resistance. Amanda continued to publish her unique perspective. “The beautiful irony is that when one of the people I admired most started paying attention, I actually felt more comfortable being myself,” she said.

After reading her writing, Fishkin eventually hired Amanda to become VP of Marketing at SparkToro, the company he co-founded.

Writing online has changed Amanda’s life. 

Her journey to over 130,000 followers and landing her dream job started just two years ago in Write of Passage Cohort 6. Amanda’s biggest win from the five-week course was writing outside of her niche and learning about herself in the process.

“Write of Passage gave me that forcing function to figure out what I really care about, and it gave me a safe space to test new ideas.”

Flash forward two years. Amanda now has thousands of people applying her marketing insights, relating to her quips about parenting, and trying out the recipes she shares on her newsletter: The Menu. She has appeared on podcasts, been profiled on the Demand Curve website, written guest posts for high-power marketing firms, and launched her own cohort-based course.

“If you set a clear goal for yourself, home in on your unique voice, and stick with a topic consistently over time, you’ll turn yourself into a magnet that attracts life-changing opportunities.” 

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Put simply, Amanda learned how to get out of her own way — and it transformed her career. Are you ready to do the same? What opportunities are waiting for you on the other side of publishing? 

To tap into the Internet’s serendipity, join us for Write of Passage Cohort 11. Within five weeks, you will kickstart your writing and join a community that will help you keep going.

Enrollment opens tomorrow, September 12. I hope you choose to join us.

Chat soon,

David Perell

Upcoming Workshop: How to Start Writing Online

“I was made for more than this!”

Does that sound familiar? Have you ever looked around at your current situation — your work, your peers, your pastimes — and known you were capable of more? The world is awash with opportunity, but so many people are still following a 20th century playbook.

In this workshop, I’ll show you how writing online is your ticket to living a 21st century life. Join us on September 12 at 7 pm ET.