Self-Editing

Self-Editing

I came across a term the other day that described me to a tee. 

Self-editing. 

I’m a champion self-editor. In fact I’m sooo good at it I probably could win some prestigious award if there was such a thing. 

I self-edit regularly as I go through my day. It looks something like this:

 I’ll wake up, and think about my day. If I have nothing officially planned then I let my mind wander for a minute or two about what the possibilities could be?

I’ll start to map out what sounds like a fun day, except then I’ll talk myself out of it. 

“How about coffee at that really cute coffee shop in downtown Coppell?”

“No, I’d probably have to resort to cream and sugar instead of my creamer, and that would just be way too many points. I think I’ll just fix coffee at home.”

“How about a trip to Half-Price Books?”

“No, I really don’t need anymore books. Look at all the books I haven’t read yet.”

Although, these are relatively minor examples I do the same thing when it comes to things like dreams for the future. I talk myself out of each and everyone. 

This need to self-edit is your inner critic speaking. Danny Gregory in his book Art Before Breakfast puts it this way:

“These voices-the inner critic, the inner nag, the inner pest, the inner jerk, and all the other monsters who try to talk you out of moving forward-are the part of you that is threatened by change and progress.”

Sometimes I think about giving something a chance, but I convince myself that there is no way I could write a book, travel regularly, speak to an audience, or take a writing course. 

I’m not even really sure any of theses ideas are really actually what I want to do, but at this rate I’ll never know,  because I will have talked myself out of each and every one before I allow myself to do any of them. 

Have you found yourself in this predicament? How do you manage your inner critic?