Slaying Perfectionism & Imposter Syndrome
I'm a creative person.
I'm an artist, illustrator, animator by profession.
In a nutshell what that means is i inherently have 2 huge psychological problems built in to my melonhead:
1. I am a perfectionist
2. I suffer with imposter syndrome.
Both of these are huge (relatively) unspoken side effects of being a creative individual. As a perfectionist the problem isnt really being a diva and wanting everything to be perfect (although it does happen often) The problem is paralysis by analysis. Overthinking every little, miniscule detail and trying to map out the entire project in my head as quickly as possible And then upon becoming aware of the scale of the task at hand, feeling to buckle under the pressure and afraid to even begin because of the fear of executing imperfectly.
Then when I thrust my sword into the chest of perfection and stand on top of its carcass, that's where the Imposter Syndrome kicks in. It's a voice in your head that says "What are you really doing here, man? You don't belong here. You don't know anything about this. And when everyone finds out.. Oh boy is that gonna be embarrassing" It's a horrible voice to have whispering in your head every time you get excited while doing something great.
So far here on WA i've had to fight these two dragons every single time i put my hand on the keyboard. It took me about a month before i could write and upload my first post. And after I got more posts and pages up, fought through the wordpress learning curve, plugins, amazon affiliate links, buttons, tables, image optimization etc... the voice in my head said, "So what? You'll never make any money though"
But as I look back i realised something. Right now at this moment - where I am in WA it's not about the money yet. I look back and see nothing but successes. Milestones that I can be proud of and say i did that shit. In a little over a month, i've built the foundations of a decent website, SEO optimized, Content filled (And growing), and the knowledge that I can do this again, and again. The gravy is that it has the potential to earn revenue. Maybe not immediately but as google ranks it better as time passes. i did that shit.
If you can relate to this, you're not alone.
Remember Rome wasnt built in a day and neither was your website. I have to keep reminding myself that it's not going to happen all at once. One day at a time. Just put in the work and it will show.
Thanks for reading!
If you wanna check out my WA website (work in progress) you can see it here:
www.thebestelectricskateboards.com
Please feel free to leave a comment or msg me with any feedback. That would be amazing!
Or
If you're interested in seeing some of the work i do for a living check it out here:
www.shawnchongashing.com
Recent Comments
4
Yeah I so get you about everything you've written above.
I imagine that these thoughts go through many minds in all walks of life... it's what we do with these thoughts that count.
Do we get weighed down by them or do we brush them off and power on. It's great that you took the latter - well done.
All the best with your WA journey, cheers,
Jacqueline
Thanks JacquelineS1
You're so right. Those voices remain with us whether we like it or not. It's making sure you listen to the right ones and ignoring the rest that'll get you through it.
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Great writing, great websites. I like how you are keeping it real in this post.
I can relate, and then some.
Keep going and I wish you continued success!
Margy
Thanks MargyK
Gotta keep it real or else im just fooling myself!
I wish you great success on your WA adventure as well!