Spoken into Existence

It was a pipe dream for me. I’ve always enjoyed writing, but somewhere in the back of my head I always knew it was a long shot that I’d ever get published. I thought it would take years of rewrites, editing and rejection. I wrote one book, and that’s the one that’ll be published. That being said, I got rejected by a lot of agents and publishers. Agents weren’t interested, publishers didn’t even respond. It’s easy to see how someone could get disheartened and give up. That’s exactly what you shouldn’t do.

It’s almost a cliché at this point, but failure is pivotal for any stroke of success. It not only teaches you to adapt and change your methods so that you’re better, but it also teaches you how to deal with rejection. Not everyone will like you, not everyone will appreciate your work. That’s fine, it’s not meant to be for everyone. Each failure brings you closer to your goal. It strips down whatever it is you’re working on to what’s essential. Failure makes you cut out the bullshit.

On top of learning to fail, self-belief is fucking key. You need to be in your own corner, the entire time. You need to keep your corner tight, and only keep people around who genuinely want you to get your shit done. Talk things into existence. I was telling people that I’d get a book published long before I was anywhere close to achieving that goal. Telling people I’d do it forced me into a position where I’d have to get it done. If you have a goal, tell people about it. Saying it makes it real. The first time you say it it’ll feel awkward and stupid coming out of your mouth. The las time you say it will be just before you achieve your goal.

I’ve written about self-hate before (A LOT). You can’t hate yourself and believe in yourself at the same time. They’re mutually exclusive mind states. On days where I hate myself, the self-belief is lower, and vice versa. If you want to do something, you’d better start believing that you’re good enough to do it. 

It’s been a good week. Endgame came out, and your boy got a book deal. It’s the product of a lot of hours of work, and you better believe I’m going to enjoy the road ahead. I wrote this before, and it’s truer now than it ever has been. Good things come to those who wait, but they come quicker to those who work.