Perfectionism is spelled paralysis

Oct 2014 progress update

Month: 7/12 (58%)
Chapters completed: 10 / 21 (47%)
Assignments completed: 6/ 11 (55%)

I know, I know…I need to speed up if I’m going to get through the course in a year.

And yes, yes, rap me over the knuckles again, I have barely updated this blog over the last couple of months. I want to blame all sorts of things like working hard, selling my house and buying a new one, and answering 74 "why" questions from Toddler on a daily basis (no exaggeration)! 

But do you know what? Yes I have been doing all those things, but actually the reason I've been struggling seems to be the  dreaded confidence bug again!

The fear

The fear that people (a few at least!) might actually be reading this.

I didn't publish a post for almost a whole month before this one about YouTubers, and it was because I just couldn't write anything I felt happy to share. I'm not even sure I was happy with that one in the end!

I think the problem started when I realised people were actually reading my posts. More specifically, if I'm honest, the problem started when I realised my tutor was reading my posts. 

*cue seasonal clap of thunder*

Before that I was in a nice little blogging bubble - I had a few nice comments from friends and that was about it. And I’d sort of come to terms with them reading the blog, in hindsight I thought they were the only ones who were!

So, realising my tutor might read it, when I sat down to write a new post it suddenly felt a bit like an assignment, like it was going to be marked, like it had to be absolutely 100%, jaw-droppingly-amazingly perfect!

And I froze. 

It wasn't until, determined that there would not be more than a month between posts, I sat down and forced out something, anything (!), that I realised I was being ridiculous. I also came across the quote from Churchill that I have used as the title of this post.

"Perfectionism is spelled paralysis"

It’s true. The very act of feeling like you have to deliver perfection can be enough to stop you even being able to start! 

The point of this blog, though, isn't to scream I'm brilliant and know everything about copywriting and marketing. It's not even really about creating content that’s useful for other people! It’s about finding my voice, experimenting with writing styles, learning to structure posts, and to research areas I'm not familiar with...Oh, and of course to get used to people reading what I write.

Now, I'm pretty certain that my tutor would be the first person to support me in all of those aims! 

So, am I scared to press 'Publish'? 

Nope. As the great Sir Winston Churchill also said, 

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

Doesn’t hurt to proofread just one final time though, does it?  Just in case…

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The other reason for this blog is to get some good feedback and constructive criticism from people who have been here before...So, if you read my blogs and feel you could offer any helpful advice, please do so in the comments below.