Conquering the Inner Critic

Battling Self-Talk and Embracing Small Wins

The “language of opposition.” That’s what my self-talk is using today, or lately in general.

As I’ve mentioned, before (often), I’m trying to create this solopreneur life for myself, and right now it’s not the exciting parts. (See how I wrote “trying to” instead of just “creating”? That’s the issue to tackle this week.)

I know I’m not alone in battling a voice that, while it isn’t overtly negative, is also not at all positive. Lately I’m using a lot of “should” and “have to” and “need to” sentences and my brain just does NOT engage with those words. Maybe it’s ADHD or one of its funny little co-morbidities.

Let’s see if we can not be a Danny Downer as we go over the last week!

Summing Things Up

The numbers?

• I made 5 posts on Medium last week. 3 Newsletters on Substack.

• I averaged $2 a day last week on Medium. $0 a day on Substack.

• I gained 24 Followers and 1 subscriber on Medium. 12 Followers and 1 subscriber on Substack.

I also started creating images to post on LinkedIn, Instagram & Twitter with more inspirational statements and then having a bit of text with that. I did that on 3 days last week and managed to re-use content… so that’s another venue. I gained 2, 2 and 7 followers there, respectively.

My last couple of weeks on Medium have been disappointing, income-wise. I went and cleared out who I was following so that my feed would be more aligned with what I want to read. I then started being more deliberate in my engagement and following, so while my follower growth slowed, I feel like it’s more likely to be people who care about my writing.

The same has happened on Substack, though I’m a bit slower to find content and people to engage with. I’m working on it.

Lessons Learned

Consistency still matters, and so do titles. I wrote what I think was a great article about unlearning, but it has gotten almost 0 engagement. (50 of the claps on the page are my wife, thanks dear.)

I also made a great new friend on Medium who is both supportive and a great reminder of what this whole writing thing is about for me.

All in all, the lessons were more along the lines of, trust my ‘unbrain’ or subconscious to process things and help me where it can. It’s a resource I leaned into in the past, but have gotten out of the habit of using more lately.

Gratitude

I’m grateful this week for the moments of clarity, when I recognize that growing a community and a business is a slow thing in most cases. I’m grateful for every sincere connection I’ve made so far and look forward to more ‘real people’ in my world.

What’s Coming Up

I’m putting together my Slack community, very small right now, a mastermind of peers who are trying to create something as well. Channeling Chaos, the Slack version and Channeling Chaos the Medium publication will both be live this week.

Thanks for Reading

I said I’d get more storytelling in this, this might just be what that looks like. (c; I do plan to start making notes of each day, so I can do something cool and write with as much verve as Michael at Shy By Design. He’s my storytelling hero right now.