I’m sure we’ve all heard people say “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Well, I think just the opposite is true: When you see it, as in totally visualize the successful outcome with every fiber of your being, then, and only then, will you achieve it.
The key is in eliminating any half-assed, wishy-washy, self-doubt bullshit. (Yes, I said “bullshit!”) Or if you prefer it in Yoda’s words, “Do or do not, there is no try.”
Uh-huh. I’m currently working my freakin’ tail off to practice what I preach, but the bottom line is that despite a boatload of positive talk, a few of my happy thoughts keep losing their way and falling into the quicksand.
So “the proof is in the pudding,” as some wise person somewhere is purported to have once said, which I think aptly fits this situation, if I only knew what the hell that little platitudewas supposed to mean…
(You can take a 20 to 30 minute break here, the time it took to look up the origin of that saying, then distracting myself further engrossed in The Word Detective’s website.)
Here’s the short version: “The proof is in the pudding” is actually a mangled form of the original phrase, which was “the proof of the pudding is in the eating” (which dates back to the early 1600s.) Even if you use a great recipe with fresh ingredients and the pudding looks delicious, you can only judge it by putting it in your mouth. The actual taste is the only true criterion of success.
Now where were we? Oh yeah…The only way I’m going to know if my book, which I started writing in 2002 and sent off to the printer late last week, is any good at all, is to brace myself for reader’s feedback. At this point I am simply too close to the damn thing.
Whoa! But does that mean I need external validation in order to feel internally good about completing this massive undertaking?
Hhmm… Lemme think on that while I go mess around in the kitchen. I’ve suddenly got a hankering for some (sugar-free) pudding.