# 3 — “I can do it if I try” is the reason you don’t do.

Everybody wants to live inside the realm of possibilities. You can do anything if you only had the time. If you just had the right environment, right?

3rd day of the Ship30for30 challenge and I’ve met some interesting people. Yesterday evening we had a little Zoom call to discuss progress. I won’t use his name but one dude said he always wanted to become a novelist, but he never seems to be able to complete his work. His job keeps him to busy, and he can never find enough time to write novels. That’s why he can’t complete work and enter it for writing awards. Heck, post in online for other people to read. But is that the real reason?

Can it be that he wants to leave the possibility of “I can do it if I try” open, by not committing to anything.

Play it safe instead expose his work to criticism. That way he does not have to face the reality that he might produce an inferior piece of writing and face rejection. He wants to live inside the realm of possibilities, where he can say that he could do it if he only had the time, or that he could write if he just had the proper environment. He should enter his writing for an award, and if he gets rejected, so be it. If he did, he might grow, or discover that he should pursue something different. Either way, he would be able to move on.
The only thing certain is you don’t get anywhere by not submitting anything.

Try a bunch of stuff. Who knows what might stick.