SFA 030 – Dealing with Burnout, Self-Doubt, and Comparisonitis

For this week’s show, the three of us talked a bit about the mental game of being an author. We went into how we deal with burnout, writers’ block, negative feedback, self-doubt, and the ever-present comparisonitis.

We also shared some news. Lindsay mentioned that she’s reading Amazon Ads Unleashed by Robert J Ryan (and finding it helpful), Jo talked about his new hardcover edition, and Andrea talked about going forward with audiobook production.

Here are a few of the specific things we chatted about:

What burnout looks like for each of us.
What we’ve learned over the years about what works for us for getting inspired and avoiding writers’ block.
The usefulness of writing sprints.
Keeping things fresh by hopping genres (or going from fiction to non-fiction).
How we keep the ideas flowing book after book, series after series.
Dealing with criticism and self-doubt.
Making sure to take time of each day and between projects to recharge.
Whether we find it productive or a downer to read reviews.
Channeling fears and self-doubts into creating better characters.

Lindsay also recommended a lecture to artists or “sweaty creatives” by Brené Brown: Why the Critics Aren’t the Ones Who Count.

Haven’t joined our Facebook group yet? Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/504063143655523/

Six Figure Authors

SFA 030 - Dealing with Burnout, Self-Doubt, and Comparisonitis

00:00 / 01:03:54

Connor

Normally I don’t comment on any of the videos I watch, but the conversation here has motivated me to do otherwise. I’m commenting on the website in the hopes that it’s more likely to be seen.

To preface this, I am a college student with only two books published and many more ideas for series in the same universe. Joe said at 49:40 that he doesn’t have a solution to his self-doubt and comparisonitis, and while I’m not entirely free of it myself, I do have a solution that works for me.

(This might seem a bit too personal, but bear with me).

In 2016, I got anxiety and depression, and it seemed like the only solution was medication. In the midst of this, I got the inspiration for what would eventually lead to my first story, which ended up being the duology I published. Self doubt was crazy strong back then, but I didn’t even realize that’s what I had. While I did respond well to Zoloft, I noticed that my neurotic tendencies were starting to return even while on medication. Then I remembered that my therapist recommended meditation a while ago, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

I started in July of 2018 and haven’t missed a day of meditation since (It’s March 2020 at the time of writing). I’ve been using the Headspace app, and in my opinion it’s the best thing you can do to reduce self-doubt and other insecurities. The reason why self-doubt keeps occurring is because those thoughts are a habitual pattern that are activated whenever something specific happens, namely when you start writing (or when looking at others works, etc). The reason why I recommend meditation is because when you start to catch the thoughts and feelings as they arise, you are beginning to break the bad habit, because it’s your lack of awareness/attention where bad habits thrive. I’m not sure if this makes much sense to you or not, but I’m just trying to help out. Of course, this advice isn’t just for Joe, but for anyone who knows they have a bad mental habit they want to break, such as comparisonitis or even depression and anxiety.

I know this is unnecessarily long, but this is something I’m really passionate about. Meditation has raised my base level of happiness, and it’s much easier to keep a level head when things go wrong. It is possible to have less self-doubt or comparisonitis even as you look at bad reviews or other authors’ success. Even if it sounds weird or counterintuitive to you, at least give it a shot. It can’t hurt. You can find tutorials online that can guide you through it if you don’t know how to do it (I use the Headspace app (I swear I’m not sponsored lol)).

That’s all I have to say. Thanks for reading this. I really enjoy the podcast. The constant flow of publishing and marketing talk provides great motivation for me. Keep up the good work!

One Comment

Connor

Normally I don’t comment on any of the videos I watch, but the conversation here has motivated me to do otherwise. I’m commenting on the website in the hopes that it’s more likely to be seen.

To preface this, I am a college student with only two books published and many more ideas for series in the same universe. Joe said at 49:40 that he doesn’t have a solution to his self-doubt and comparisonitis, and while I’m not entirely free of it myself, I do have a solution that works for me.

(This might seem a bit too personal, but bear with me).

In 2016, I got anxiety and depression, and it seemed like the only solution was medication. In the midst of this, I got the inspiration for what would eventually lead to my first story, which ended up being the duology I published. Self doubt was crazy strong back then, but I didn’t even realize that’s what I had. While I did respond well to Zoloft, I noticed that my neurotic tendencies were starting to return even while on medication. Then I remembered that my therapist recommended meditation a while ago, so I figured I’d give it a shot.

I started in July of 2018 and haven’t missed a day of meditation since (It’s March 2020 at the time of writing). I’ve been using the Headspace app, and in my opinion it’s the best thing you can do to reduce self-doubt and other insecurities. The reason why self-doubt keeps occurring is because those thoughts are a habitual pattern that are activated whenever something specific happens, namely when you start writing (or when looking at others works, etc). The reason why I recommend meditation is because when you start to catch the thoughts and feelings as they arise, you are beginning to break the bad habit, because it’s your lack of awareness/attention where bad habits thrive. I’m not sure if this makes much sense to you or not, but I’m just trying to help out. Of course, this advice isn’t just for Joe, but for anyone who knows they have a bad mental habit they want to break, such as comparisonitis or even depression and anxiety.

I know this is unnecessarily long, but this is something I’m really passionate about. Meditation has raised my base level of happiness, and it’s much easier to keep a level head when things go wrong. It is possible to have less self-doubt or comparisonitis even as you look at bad reviews or other authors’ success. Even if it sounds weird or counterintuitive to you, at least give it a shot. It can’t hurt. You can find tutorials online that can guide you through it if you don’t know how to do it (I use the Headspace app (I swear I’m not sponsored lol)).

That’s all I have to say. Thanks for reading this. I really enjoy the podcast. The constant flow of publishing and marketing talk provides great motivation for me. Keep up the good work!