“You’re writing a book.”

My co-worker must have stumbled across my blog.

“Yes, but it’s just an e-book.”

“That’s impressive.”

I began to downplay my goal of writing an e-book and my identity as a writer. As my mouth said, “It’s not really a book, just an e-book” and “I’ve only just started being paid to write”, my mind wondered why I was minimizing my dream and identity.

One of my favorite writers, Jeff Goins, says that the first step to becoming a writer is to claim your identity. I am a writer. If I don’t call myself a writer, no one else will.

Returning to my office after this brief conversation, I realized that I had missed an opportunity and decided on a new course of action the next time I come into a similar conversation.

“Thank you. Yes, I love writing and am very excited about the upcoming release of my e-book. I’ve been dreaming about creating an e-book for awhile and can’t wait to share it. If you’re interested in receiving a free copy, you can sign up for blog updates by email and you’ll receive a copy once it is released.”

Do you have a dream or project you need to stop minimizing?

 Let’s claim our identity and projects

and stop being afraid of criticism and failure.