Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

Lesson 3:
Affirm Yourself

In Lesson 3, you learned:

 How to have healthier self-assurance and confidence

 How to react less to negative feedback and just take it in stride
 How to avoid writer’s block that can crush your ability to write.

This worksheet will help you put your new knowledge into practice. Print it out and use it
immediately for tangible results.

You'll also want to print a copy of this worksheet and keep it handy in a folder, as you may
need it later in the course.

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 Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

M
ost people have some form of negative emotion or beliefs about their writing. They
could be tiny bite-sized worries, larger concerns or big, overarching fears.
Awareness of these and committing yourself to resolving them are key. What are
some of your thoughts or beliefs about your writing?

Examples might be:

 "I'm a slow writer. I'm never going to be good at this."

 "I struggle with writing something interesting. It's always so boring."
 "I'm crazy to want to try writing my own content."

You'll have your own thoughts – those are just examples. In the space below, write down 3
negative feelings or beliefs you have about your writing or yourself right now.

1. ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Thinking about each of those statements in turn, answer the following questions:

1. Are the statements true? _________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

2. Do you have proof? _____________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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 Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

3. Who says? ____________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

4. When did you decide this to be true? ________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

5. Do you feel you have the power to change this? If not, why not? __________________

______________________________________________________________________

After you’ve given your honest answers some consideration, it's time to fight fire with fire and
turn those negative beliefs into positive, constructive and helpful ones.

For each negative statement you wrote above, rewrite it so that the statement becomes
positive, pleasant and hopeful instead.

For example, if you wrote, "I am a slow writer," you could rewrite it to, "I am a careful writer
who takes the time to do a good job, and I can learn to be faster through practice."

Rewrite each of your negative statements into positive beliefs now:

1. ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

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 Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

Begin using these positive beliefs as affirmations of your ability. They help reprogram your
mind away from crippling, limiting beliefs that hold you back so you can replace them with
healthier and empowering beliefs that allow you to learn and grow.

For example, if you consistently tell yourself that you're an awful writer, you’ll eventually etch
that as a firm, uncontestable belief in your mind – and then you're really in trouble. You'll have
problems overcoming that belief for the rest of your life, and your writing confidence will always
be affected because of it.

In other words, you'll come to believe, beyond a doubt, what you tell yourself. Tell yourself
something negative enough for long enough, and you've created your own reality.

Here's the good news: You can create any reality you want. You can change your story.

If you start telling yourself that you're a writer who's willing to practice and learn… everything
changes. Not overnight, of course, but by consistent repetition of this positive statement, you'll
come to believe it so deeply that you'll never kick yourself again. Your willingness to try and
learn will soar – and so will your confidence.

ANYONE can improve their skills, in any area. You just have to believe that it’s possible – and
of course, it is.

Come up with 10 more affirmations and positive beliefs about you and your writing – even if
you don't really believe them deep down right now. Some examples include:

 I can learn how to be a faster writer, and I'm willing to practice to get there.
 What I write is unique to my experience, even if the topic has been talked about before.
 I have interesting things to say and am learning how to say them.
 I can become a good writer, and I'm taking steps in that direction right now.

Use the next page to write your affirmations now:

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 Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

My Positive Affirmation List

1. ______________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________________

6. ______________________________________________________________________

7. ______________________________________________________________________

8. ______________________________________________________________________

9. ______________________________________________________________________

10. ______________________________________________________________________

Print out this page and keep it handy.

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 Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

Once you've written your 10 positive affirmations, read all 10 items on your list aloud, in your
normal speaking voice. Pause after each sentence before reading the next. Think about how
each feels. You could even try reading them out as you stand in front of a mirror, pausing to
look at yourself each time you finish a sentence.

If you feel silly or uncomfortable or shy, that's normal! Most people do at first, but eventually,
they come to feel good about this exercise – comfortable, happy, grounded, and balanced.

You will too.

Start thinking about these affirmations on a daily basis. Make saying them aloud part of your
pre-writing routine. Bring them to mind each and every time you have a negative thought.
Counter-argue and replace your negative thoughts with positive ones as often as possible to
provoke beneficial change.

Practice reading your positive affirmations aloud each day. Each time you prepare to write,
read them aloud before you begin. While you write, pause to restate them. When you're
finished writing, say them again.

Breathe in the good they create. Believe in them. Believe in yourself, and your abilities. Then
go ahead and write.

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 Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

Who'll Tell You Your Work is Good

Enough?

Affirmations can create positive impact on your writing, but how you achieve validation that
you've done a good job is just as crucial.

You're not in the Damn Fine Words writing course for fun. You're in this course to learn how to
write in a way that helps your business grow, thrive and make money.

In other words, you're here to learn how to create a reaction through writing.

Unfortunately, you can't predict reactions until you actually get your content out there in front of
other people where it can go to work for you. You'll first need to publish that blog post, share
that article, post that website copy, offer that ebook, pitch that sale and send that email.

Then wait to see what happens.

That can be stressful for some people. They think, "Will my potential clients feel engaged? Will
readers like this? Is this a good article? Is this copy compelling? Will this email get me that
sale? Will this piece of content I wrote work?"

All those questions really mean one thing:

"Is what I wrote good enough?"

Answering that question without any external confirmation, third-party reaction or outside
approval is impossible. You won't know until you get your writing out there and see what
happens.

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 Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

So you need to find another way to confirm that yes, what you wrote is good enough. And that
approval comes solely from within.

It's a little like a woman who asks her husband, "Do I look nice in this dress?" That woman
needs external validation. Another woman doesn't need to ask anyone, because she's
internally validated – she knows without asking that she looks just fine.

Not everyone is externally validated. Not everyone is internally validated. People with healthy
writing mindsets are somewhere in the middle, with their needle leaning more towards
internally validated.

Where's your needle on the validation gauge right now? The below exercise helps you figure
out what type of writer you are – externally validated or internally validated. Once you know
which direction you lean, you can start taking steps to recalibrate to a healthy balance
somewhere in the middle.

Answer these questions: How do you know when something is good enough? What tells you
that you've done well?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

Do you think getting comments on a blog post or hearing a client say he likes your work is

crucially important, very important, not so important or not at all important?

___________________________________________________________________________

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 Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

Do you always ask others what they think before making a decision, or are their opinions nice

but not necessary?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

If you like something – say, a favourite shirt, a certain hobby, or a particular meal – and are

criticized or ridiculed, do you continue to wear/do/eat it, or do you set it aside?

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________

What does receiving praise mean to you? Is it very important, somewhat important, take-or-

leave-it, not that important or not at all important?

___________________________________________________________________________

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 Lesson 3: Your Writing Affirmations

What does the word "feedback" mean to you? Think of five adjectives and list them here:

1. ______________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________

3. ______________________________________________________________________

4. ______________________________________________________________________

5. ______________________________________________________________________

Look back over your answers and think about what you wrote. On an internal/external scale of
one to ten, where would you be on seeking approval, if 1 was 'completely internal' and 10 was
'completely external'?

It's good to know this information, and there are many ways to restore balance. Creative
coaches, business psychology consultants and even life coaches can assist you in
recalibrating your mindset if the scale is tipped to far in one direction or another. (Ask me for
my recommendations on all three, if you'd like.)

Most importantly, know this:

Seeking someone else's approval means giving them full power and control over the decision
of whether your work is worthy or not – but it's not their place to do so.

Objective feedback can be sometimes helpful for suggestions on where to improve, but you're
the best judge of what's good enough for you. Keep the decisional power within your control,
always.

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