I am in the middle of writing a book about Monsters in the Midwest...true tales of unexplained beasts! But there is another very real monster that likes to lurk on social media. It especially likes to haunt writers and creative types. And it has ugly green eyes.
Somewhere along the way, I figured out how to slay this ugly beast. Here are a few tips if it is haunting you...
1. Don't feed it. This requires figuring out where it likes to lurk and wait for you. For me, it lurked on Twitter, and liked to strike whenever anyone tweeted a blog post that included the words "How I Got My Agent." I wanted an agent so badly, that it physically pained me to see these posts. I knew, that by opening any such link, I would only be feeding the green-eyed beast and making it grow stronger. So I didn't.
2. Believe. Not necessarily in it, but yourself. I have a quote hanging on the wall above my computer. It reads, "Believe in your dreams and they may come true, believe in yourself and they will." (I've got some wine, to go with that cheese if you need it.) But it's true. Never stop believing in yourself (cue Journey song here). If you want something badly enough, have faith in yourself that you will do what you need to do to make it happen. And seeing someone else achieve a bit of success won't affect you nearly as much if you believe that you can make the same thing happen for yourself.
3. Do All the Things. I wrote an entire blog post on this. (Link to it here.) By doing all the things to achieve your own goals, you a.) won't have time to worry about what others are doing, and b.) will be confident that, at the end of the day, you've done everything you can. No regrets.
4. Be gracious. The green-eyed monster HATES when you are gracious. It actually causes the beast to start to wither, right before your very eyes. I think it has something to do with karma. You know how they say that karma is a bitch? Well, it works the other way too. By graciously telling someone, "good job" or "congratulations," you are spreading nothing but good karma. Good karma is the bomb when you are trying to get something good to happen for yourself!
5. There is safety in numbers. Last, but not least, surround yourself by others who have already slayed the nasty, green-eyed beast. For starters, once you slay your own beast, you don't need anyone else's attacking you. But also, when someone is truly happy for me and any of my little successes, it inspires me to cheer on others. And we all know this isn't the easiest road to be on, I will take all of the help I can get!
Now go out there and get that beast. I know you can do it! And I know, that good things are waiting around the corner for you once you do.
