Becoming A Writer
Belief follows behavior
I was standing in a long line waiting to check in when the person with the clipboard looked up and asked, “What do you do?”
I swallowed and said, “I’m a writer.”
Not, “I do PR consulting and writing.”
Not, “I’m trying to become a writer.”
Writer.
This was years ago now. I was just starting, writing regularly and publishing with mixed results, and taking on other freelance work to make ends meet. I intended to be a writer, but rarely called myself one.
Saying it out loud changed something.
Because if I was going to be a writer, I needed to start behaving like one.
What we believe motivates our behavior. But the reverse is also true. How we behave shapes what we believe about ourselves. Psychologist David Ben called this loop self-perception theory.
