Hey, it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business
and life you love.
And if you want a business and life you hate, turn this off right now because I am very
irritating to you.
This is Q&A Tuesday, that means we have Q’s and we have A’s.
And today’s question comes from a beautiful woman named Eileen and she writes:
“Hi Marie and team.
Each week I turn on MarieTV and, I must say, every episode is an eye opener.
Thanks for all the inspiration.”
You’re welcome.
“Here’s my Q. I’ve recently discovered how much I love writing.
It’s a way to share my knowledge with other people, but as a designer I’ve never had
any education in writing, so often when I’m writing an article I’ll start thinking who
am I to share this knowledge?
Who am I to pretend I know it all?
And who am I to write this article?
These thoughts can make me feel tired, take away my enthusiasm, and turn it into fear.
Is there anything I can do to make these thoughts go away?
Do you have tips that I can practice the next time I write an article?
Thank you so much, lots of love from the Netherlands, Eileen.”
Great question.
Whether you’re a beginner or you’re a more seasoned pro, I think all of us can have
that thought.
You know, who am I to write this?
That’s called resistance and it’s probably why Ernest Hemingway drank so much.
You know what, he probably need this MarieTV.
I see three things in your question and, yes, I have a tip for each.
First let’s cover the insecurity that you have because you’re not a trained writer.
Well, you’ve got to know something, neither am I. I am a writer because I write.
I’ve never actually had any formal training, I’ve just been doing it for years.
And when I first started, I gotta tell you, I was pretty darn bad.
But there was one thought that really helped me out that I wanna share with you right now.
Writing is just talking in text form.
And most of us don't ever get talker’s block.
Right?
When we’ve got something to say, we just say it.
So that’s tip number one.
I want you to think about writing as just talking in text form and write how you talk.
Second thing I want to address is this destructive association that you have between writing
an article and that meaning you’re a know it all.
That’s the worst idea ever if you want to create anything and share it with the world.
Look, the people that we trust the most are people that are just honest about their learnings
and their experiences, they give us research and statistics when it matters, and, of course,
they cite their resources.
So when you share something in the form of, “Hey, look, here’s something great I learned
and I think you’d love to know it too,” just say that.
It’s awesome.
And don’t ever pretend to know it all, because you don't.
None of us do.
Instead, use tip number two, which is the LSC method.
It stands for learn, share, and credit.
So when you learn something if you wanna share about it, that’s awesome.
If it was based on your own experience, that’s all you gotta do.
But if you learn something from somewhere else, maybe another author, a website, a research
study, just cite your sources.
That’s all you’ve gotta do.
So this way you’re not like, “Hey look, I invented this.
These are all my ideas.”
You’re like, “Hey look, I found something cool for you and I really think you’d appreciate
it and here’s why.”
Finally, let’s address the real heart of this.
You said that you love writing and when you love doing something and it brings you energy
and you wanna do it more, you should do it more.
That means it’s one of your gifts, it’s one of your strengths, and you never know,
it may be one of the reasons that you’re here on earth.
Think about it this way: if you don't share all of these ideas in your writing, you’re
actually keeping your gifts from all of us.
Another way that I like to say it is you’re stealing from those who really need you most.
So remember this last tip and, yes, it’s a tweetable.
When you’re afraid to write, don't think, “Who am I to say this?” but, “Who am
I not to say this?”
That was my A to your Q, please let us know how it goes.
Now I would love to hear from you.
Does the fear of sounding like a know-it-all ever stop you?
Got any more tips or tricks you’d love to share?
As always, the best conversations happen after the episode over at MarieForleo.com, so head
on over there, get those little fingers moving, and leave a comment now.
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Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special
gift that only you have.
Thank you so much for watching and I’ll catch you next time on MarieTV.