16. FOMO, Choosing Small, and Navigating Self-Doubt

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Big dreams are popular these days. Write the bestseller! Speak in front of thousands! Get 1 million downloads! How about we take a hard pass and focus on our inner knowing instead? The fear of missing out (aka FOMO) is a powerful force in our creative lives, but when we intentionally choose small (like serving the audience we already have) and focus on staying present, it’s a lot easier to weather self-doubt when it arrives.

Highlights

• Two writing dreams of mine that have never materialized (and why I’m OK with it)

• A quick exercise to figure out what you really want

• The self-doubt spiral I experienced a few months before Wild Words was published

Links + Resources

• Poets & Writer’s Magazine

• Eat This Poem: A Literary Feast of Recipes Inspired by Poetry

• Wild Words: Rituals, Routines, and Rhythms for Braving the Writer’s Path

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