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#57 – What makes you quit?

I've heard it many times: "I'm going to write a Substack for 100 days in a row," or "I'm going to run five days a week," or "I'm going to start cooking every day."

(I no longer proclaim such goals because I've quit too many times.)

And then one day, poof, the goal and the desire to achieve it evaporate like it was never there.

Why? What makes us quit?

Often, it's the Ghost of Idea Deflection. It floods our minds with the thought of "why bother" in different forms, until we give up.

• there are already so many good writers
• no one's going to read it anyway
• running is actually not so good for you––and you don't even enjoy it
• you're so tired after work and you don't really know how to cook
• eating take-out every day can't be that bad for you

But what triggers the GoID?

For me, it's the Ghost of Misplaced Shame. The "who do you think you are" voice in my head that makes me feel ridiculous for having had such goal.

It mocks me, "You? You really think you can write? Ha!"

I see Mme. Vincent in my head, my Language Arts teacher when I was 15, with her porcelain skin and golden curls, a tan cashmere cardigan loose over her elegant torso.

What makes you quit?

Love,

Carolina

PS: I'm intent on writing, and I write this newsletter as a way of putting myself on the hook. But I don't intend to put YOU on the hook. So, please, unsubscribe if you're tired of receiving my emails.