When I’m feeling stuck, here’s how I motivate myself
Have I told you yet, that writing a book is challenging? There is a chorus of fears going off in my head at any one time.
- “You’re never going to meet your deadline.”
- “You won’t have enough stories.”
- “You’re going to have to learn a new way of writing if you think you’re going to pull this off.”
But here’s what helps. I have a secret weapon of motivation that sits right above my computer at the desk where I write.
It’s my manifesto.
A framed poster-sized line item of beliefs about myself, what I’m capable of, and the world around me. Are they all true, all the time? Definitely not. Sometimes I flounder and fail, but when I fall or fail to measure up, I can remind myself who I want to be in the world and get back up.
It reminds me that I can do hard things and that I’m not going to walk away from this even though I don’t yet know how it will get done.
In the last exercise in The Rewrite, I invited the participants to write their manifestos. At first, you think it’s not easy to do; to claim THIS is who I am and then share it with others.
But I think it’s incredibly empowering.
When I first created my manifesto and hung it on my wall. I read it every single day. I allowed these statements to wash over me and drown and begin to replace other, less helpful beliefs.
Now when I’m feeling stuck, I look to it for inspiration.
Here’s what’s on my manifesto.
![](https://deannamoffitt.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/manifesto.png)
I’m curious, what would you write on your manifesto? How do you remind yourself of all the good things you are when life feels hard?