Day 22: Turn your self-judgments into writing mantras
From Leslie Wang, writing coach and founder of Your Words Unleashed
Photo by Leslie Wang
When you sit down to write, does your mind bring up a stream of nasty, judgmental thoughts that stop you in your tracks? It happens to everyone! I’ve found that the best way to counter these self-judgments is to create positive associations with writing that help you feel good while you’re doing it.
How do you do this? By using writing mantras.
Your thoughts about writing either impede your progress or facilitate it. Many people believe that if they aren’t extremely hard on themselves, they won’t be as productive. In reality, the more self-critical you are, the harder it is to get things done.
Mantras are the inverse: beliefs that inspire and motivate your writing on an internal level. They symbolize your highest intentions and areas you’d like to grow into as a person. Having personal mantras can make the writing process easier and more enjoyable.
Even as adults, our brains are malleable and flexible. We can introduce new thoughts at any point that help, rather than harm, our productivity and well-being.
It’s relatively simple to create mantras that will help you write. All you need to do is take your most common self-judgments about writing and reframe them with the opposite meaning. The trick is making sure these new beliefs both feel good AND feel like they’re within the realm of possibility.
Let me give an example. Say you procrastinate a lot and suffer from very negative self-talk.
One potentially debilitating thought might be, “You’re such a slow writer!” You can reframe this into the mantra of “I’m writing at exactly the right pace” or “I trust my project to unfold at the right pace.”
If you find it hard to embrace a certain mantra, you can also try creating a thought that bridges your self-judgment and your mantra. For example, if you’re paralyzed by self-doubt, telling yourself “I’m totally confident in my writing abilities” just doesn’t ring true. So instead, you could try the bridge thought, “I’m open to believing I could be a confident writer.”
Here’s an exercise for you:
List 5 of your most common self-judgments and then reframe them into believable, personally inspiring writing mantras.
Read them before you start each work session to motivate yourself and calm down your body and mind so you can stay present with your work.
When you find a new mantra you like, add it to your list.
Consciously cultivating positive beliefs about writing can help you ease past internal blocks. They let you “get out of your own way” and can help you become the writer (and person) you’ve always wanted to be.
In the end, all of your self-judgments are just stories you are choosing to believe.
So why not tell yourself more empowering ones?
For actionable writing tips and mindset strategies, listen to the Your Words Unleashed Podcast and subscribe to my weekly newsletter.
Leslie Wang, writing coach and founder of Your Words Unleashed
Really love this one! The way we talk to ourselves makes all the difference, doesn’t it? Positive intention statements are important to me (I keep them on my bathroom mirror for while I’m brushing my teeth and above the kitchen sink for when I’m doing dishes), but I hadn’t thought to call them mantras before! That term feels so perfect because it captures how these are so much more than just goals. They integrate work accomplishment with personal, even spiritual, growth in the most beautiful way. Thanks, Leslie! 🌸
Thanks for this lovely prompt, Leslie! I have to practice this magic trick over and over and over again, transforming "I'm a painfully slow and nitpicky writer" into "I'm a meticulous and craft-focused writer."