A Copywriter’s Journey to Moving Forward – Breaking the Cycle
For years, I felt stuck—like I was pedaling hard but getting nowhere. I had dreams and goals but couldn’t seem to move closer to them.
In Part 1, I listed strategies that helped me shift gears. Now, I’m exploring what held me back and how I finally started to make progress.
Ahhh…the start of a new year is so full of promise, isn’t it? A new year symbolizes a new you and a better life, right?
For me, the past few years have started out with so much potential, but as the months passed, resolutions faded, and my situation didn’t change.
This year, however, I was so tired of spinning my wheels. To break free, I had to get to the root of my self-sabotaging patterns. If I wanted to reach my goals, I needed to do a lot of reflection. And I needed to be completely honest with myself.
Enough is enough! I don’t want my comfort zone and my fear to win. I don’t want my current situation to limit the level of success I achieve in the future.
I reflected on my behavior and noticed my good intentions weren’t translating into meaningful action. I recognized three things that held me back: Procrastination, perfectionism, and analysis paralysis. Maybe you’ve heard of them? Maybe you’ve had a similar experience?
First up, procrastination. I was putting off important tasks. For example, I knew networking was important, but I struggled to follow-through, stopping after the first week. Similarly, I started a flagship copywriting course twice but never finished.
Next was perfectionism. Fear of failure and the endless pursuit of external validation kept me stuck, questioning myself and my path.
To round out this trifecta, there was analysis paralysis. I looked to webinars, courses, and experts to nudge me onto the right path. There were so many…too many…options, and I felt overwhelmed.
Ultimately, these struggles were rooted in imposter syndrome—a deep-seated belief that I wasn’t skilled enough to succeed. Acknowledging this pattern pushed me to find solutions.
Ironically, this mindset kept me from the very actions that would have proved me wrong.
So then, maybe the cure was to take action. But it had to be the right kind of action.
If I want different results, I need to do things differently.
David Meltzer, business coach and author, says, “If you’re struggling to start something new, lower the bar…I believe in consistent, persistent behavior. If you do something for two minutes a day, it’s better than doing it for two hours on Saturday.”
With that in mind, I decided to lower the bar. I no longer overwhelm myself with 12 to 15 tasks each day. Instead, I ask myself, “If nothing else gets done today, what are two or three doable priorities that, if completed, would make me happy and productive?”
My “if nothing else” list has helped me complete tasks consistently and has relieved so much pressure that I put on myself.
Earlier in the year, I listened to author Mark Manson’s podcast named after his book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck. His guest was Noah Kagan, founder and CEO of AppSumo.com, and author of Million Dollar Weekend. Kagan mentioned “The Law of 100.” The idea is to do something 100 times before you give up—for example, learn an instrument or post videos on YouTube. So many of us give up too soon if we don’t see results right away.
After hearing this, I decided to challenge myself by publishing new blog posts. Applying this to my writing felt very intimidating at first—my inner critic was loud—but hitting “publish” taught me that progress matters more than perfection.
Ilise Benun (author and co-founder of Marketing Mentor) teaches a course on networking using LinkedIn. I took the course a couple of years ago, and when we got to the part where we had to send connection requests to three people, I stopped. I was terrified to contact people outside my network.
I took the course again at the beginning of this year, and I completed it. You know what? The world didn’t end when I sent out connection requests! Some people responded, some didn’t, and that’s okay! AND…the world is still spinning!
I’m currently gathering a list of companies and agencies I would like to connect with. I’ll start reaching out in the next few weeks.
In addition, Tiago Forte, author of Building a Second Brain (a great book, BTW), suggests having enough projects going on so that if one thing feels stalled, you can move on to another project. I like this idea because I think it will help me stay productive.
Ongoing challenges and lessons learned
While I’ve made progress, I still face challenges. This is not a linear process. I have to constantly remind myself to stay focused, and to revisit the lessons I’ve learned this year.
Mindset and action have a symbiotic relationship. The right mindset will motivate me to act, and taking action will boost my confidence and help my mindset.
Conclusion
This year taught me the power of small, intentional actions. Overcoming self-doubt isn’t about waiting for the perfect moment or plan—it’s about starting where you are and moving forward, one step at a time.
What’s one small, intentional action you can take today to move you closer to your dream?
Remember to show yourself patience and grace when things get difficult. Meaningful change takes work, but it’s worth it. Trust the process, be intentional, and keep going. Your future self will thank you.
Writing this post reminded me how far I’ve come this year, and I hope it inspires you to take that first (or next) small step toward your dream.
