My latest (self-constructed) roadblock

Welcome to Week 24 of my adventure as a member of the Marketing Plan Group. In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a website copywriter, my achievements and roadblocks along the way, and what I’m learning from my group experience.

In college, I used to hate my curly hair. I just didn’t know how to deal with it. Some days, my roommates would come home to find me with scissors in hand, chopping. They would sweetly pry the scissors out of my hands and sit me down for a talk (or take me to the hairdresser – depending on how much damage I’d done.)

Last week, I sort of did this with my business. I’ll come clean. Last week, on our group call, I told Ilise that “the sheep ate my homework.”

The homework: lay out our un-newsletters

My excuse: “I didn’t lay out my un-newsletter yet because I have no logo and I’m waiting ‘til I get a new one.”

I swear, in my head this made perfect sense.

Ilise said, “Well, what about the one you have? Just use that for now.” The girls agreed, “Just use the one you have on your website.” To which I said, “It’s not there anymore. I took it down. I hate it.”

Ilise laughed kindly (as I dropped the scissors) and jokingly said, “Deidre, you can’t be trusted with your own business. We’re here to help you.”

We all laughed. Because it’s so, so true. Was it subconscious sabotage? Was I scared, and instead of moving forward I aborted the mission and blew up the plan?

It’s not a surprise. I’m liable to go off the deep end. Deleting things I’ve worked on for hours or days because they’re “not good enough” or just stalling my progress because something is “not ready yet.”

The truth is, (and how many of you can agree?) that something is always “not ready.” There is always something that can prevent us from moving on to the next step if we let it. In this case, I had allowed my logo issues to prevent me from moving forward.

Are you guilty of putting roadblocks in your way too?

Come clean. It will feel good.

Fortunately, the reality check on my group phone call, (and the good laugh we had about it) helped me get back on track. Otherwise, who knows where I might be? I created my newsletter, and I also took action to get a new, professionally designed, logo instead of complaining about the fact that my current one sucks. Imagine that? I did something instead of allowing myself to stall.

Need help removing your self-constructed roadblocks? The next Marketing Plan Group starts April 5th. Details here or fill out this form.

Comments

[TurtleBlueBird]

"Imagine that? I did something instead of allowing myself to stall." Deidre - you are a wonderful writer and I love reading about both your experiences and the wisdom gained. It's inspirational! Thanks for sharing, and congrats on letting the group help you move forward.

[Stephanie Jones, Finch Creative]

Great post - I think we can all relate, especially when designing for ourselves! Thanks for sharing.

[Tara Fort]

As always, you rock! Guilty as charged - I hold back a lot waiting for things to be "just right" -- not any more - time to take action!. Thanks, Deidre : )