I’m going to be really transparent with you today. Week 7 at the DOM Writer’s Block was pretty much a dud. I absolutely missed my weekly writing goal by a lot. Reason being? There was an unforeseen antagonist that swooped in from Uninvitedland and forcibly put up some substantial roadblocks that negatively affected my ability to accomplish any noteworthy writing for week 7. It’s during such times of intense opposition that I must learn to press through and dig deep into my internal pool of perseverance in order to reach my goals (no matter the circumstances).
Even though this unexpected obstacle arose and put a crimp in my writing plans for the week, I’m not going to give myself a pass for my lack of determination. I actually identified a way in which I still could have managed to GET WORK DONE, but I chose to let this menacing set-back wear me down mentally, which then transferred into a physical shut-down of writing motivation. Historically, I’ve discovered that, once I step a tippy-toe over onto the side of the attacked during mental warfare, then I sometimes (not all of the time) break down in my defensive efforts and accept defeat as something outside of my control. However, this was a case where I could have fought back and won; albeit, a certain amount of creative execution, mental and physical grit, and an unrelenting will would have been needed. But instead of taking the route of victory in the face of adversity, I chose to succumb to distractions to take my mind off of the battle that was beating me down. And let’s just say that these handful of distractions came in the form of plenty of movie-binging, YouTube-watching, NCAA basketball-perusing, and sleepy-time participating to busy my mind from the thought of how pitiful and unproductive I was feeling. I’ll just call this the filling-the-void or replacement tactic.
Overall, week 7 was one of those real-life wake up calls (a learning opportunity of sorts) to the importance of coming up with a plan B, C, and D, to lighten the blow of temporary writing set-backs that present themselves. I’m sure this past week won’t be the only one of its kind, and I can’t afford to have any more responses to them that resemble anything like my last week’s reaction. Furthermore, because I didn’t go ahead and rise to the challenge with unwavering determination, week 8 is going to require some laser-like focus. If I want to stay on track (and I desperately do), then the writing deficit from week 7 must be reconciled in week 8.
Okay Accountability Partners, I’m not going to make a promise that I can’t keep by saying that I will completely make up for lost time in week 8. However, you do have my word that I’m going to put forth my best effort to try. I’m so thankful that I can choose to climb out of my wallowing pit of inactivity and take charge; encourage myself and move forward; and control what I can control while planning for obstacles that can get in the way of progress on my book. Jana’s coming back with a writing vengeance, folks. Temporary writing set-backs, BEWARE!
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