Is it impolite to judge oneself in public?

Ever have those moments where you judge everything you do, and because you judge things to such an extreme that nothing gets done?  Well, that’s where I’m at right now.  I’ve written plenty of posts, but not a single one is getting published.

What happens is that I know that somewhere, out there in the world, someone has already done something very similar, perhaps even better.  I shouldn’t let that stop me, I know, however it does apparently.  I can’t seem to put my finger on exactly why though.

Or maybe the post just seems to be a bit too wild and crazy.  Or maybe I feel I don’t know enough about the topic and that I should learn more and come back to the post later on instead of inadvertently giving the impression that I’m a hack.

I’m not trying to be smug or conceited when I say that I’m a smart guy.  I feel that I’m smart, and from what people that have read some of my posts, I can write pretty well also.  So what the hell is my problem?

Here’s what happens.

I have a terrific idea for a new post.  Perhaps it’s something informative, or timely to world events that interest me.  I get well into writing the post and then BAM!  My brain starts to dance around the topic until I finally come to the conclusion that the post isn’t really worth posting.  I talk myself out of posting it essentially.  If you’re reading this one, perhaps I found myself brave enough to post something a little more close to the heart of some of my own personal issues that I’m discovering.

I’m incredibly self-critical of my work.  Overly critical is probably a better way to describe it.  I’ve always done this and I believe this trait has helped me in several ways.  I know that however it’s also been a limiting trait of mine as well. Overall, perhaps it’s a flaw of my personality.  Maybe I’m still wrong and it’s one of my more redeeming qualities.

Doesn’t matter though.  I’m posting this post here as a reminder to myself (and perhaps a handful of you out there) that I am only human.  I’m not any blogging whiz by any means, and sometimes my writing will suck the white off an egg.  I can’t let that stop me from writing though.  I need to remind myself that it’s from failure that I’ll gain success in whatever I do.  I just hope it isn’t persistent failure…that would lead me to that old saying about repetition and insanity. 

This is just one of the amazing things that blogging has illuminated for me personally.  I never really considered the care I put into my words sometimes, and that care has seemingly grown so much that it now inhibits my writing and posting.

I’m under an incredible amount of self-inflicted stress these days.  So to combat that stress I’m trying to do a little more freestyle writing.  I have a ton of drafts to choose from, on a wide variety of topics.  The context of many might be a little out-of-date at this point, but I’m going to go over them and delete the absolute trash and post the ones that are mediocre or better.

Writing is the vessel that carries my thoughts and dreams of a single point in time.  Want to see my vessel?  hahaha

Does this ever happen to you?  Do you still post what you deem crap or leave it in a persistent draft state, never to be published?

Finally, here’s a nice bit that I found titled The problem with perfectionism.  While not exactly on topic with this post, it does have an over-lap that I find interesting.  Ah, wisdom gained from reading blogs, I love it.  One of the commentators makes a reference to the Dunning-Kruger effect.

“The Dunning-Kruger effect is the phenomenon wherein people who have little knowledge (or skill) tend to think they know more (or have more skill) than they do, while others who have much more knowledge tend to think that they know less.”

Perhaps a little of that is in play also. Anyway, I found this rather interesting and enlightening. Hope you do too!

Wayne John is a health coach for people that want to lose weight, gain weight, improve athletic performance, or simply maintain a healthy lifestyle. Wayne has lost over 55 pounds and improves his current health every day by using simple, straight-forward techniques that anyone can integrate into their lives to achieve the same. Contact Wayne today to realize your own health and fitness goals, or get started now by completing and submitting the free Wellness Profile. He also has been developing websites since 1995 and programming solutions for clients even longer. He'd rather be outside having fun in the sun though.