Never Doubt, Never Despair 🐲

A doubter’s checklist to the rescue! 🗒️

Never Doubt, Never Despair

A doubter’s checklist to the rescue!

This is update #10 of the Philosophy of DMing.

Have you ever felt like giving up? I’m sure you have.

How many times did you give up when you felt like it?

Almost every time I’m sure.

It’s much easier to give up than it is to keep going. But why?

Because there are 100s of doubts against your one dream.

To keep going is hard and painful

It’s easier to just let go and to give up so you can feel a sense of relief.

I almost didn’t send this update because I felt like giving up.

I started to doubt myself a couple of days ago, saying things like:

  • The world doesn’t need another book for Dungeon Masters.

  • There’s so much material out there already.

  • Who’s going to buy your silly book?

This is normal for most creative works.

Giving up on your idea means it will never be built.

And, if something doesn’t exist, people can’t make fun of it.

It’s the things that are completed and released that are scrutinized.

You will face criticism

I saw a Tweet yesterday that sums this up nicely.

Tweet by Hassan O.

Hassan writes books. He got a 1-star review and a 5-star review for the same book because it was “too short.”

The last part is what you need to remember:

“You’ll never please everyone. Focus on what you want to do.”

The important word is YOU!

If you want to do something, do it.

Will you doubt yourself? Yes.

Will you want to give up? Yes.

Will this happen more than once? Yes.

Doubt will happen 100s of times, but don’t let it get to you.

Multiple doubts can be a good thing. Because if you only give up once, there won’t be a second time.

Because it means you’ve already given up.

Or, it means you’ve succeeded.

Count your doubts

I’m on count number 3 of wanting to give up writing my new book, The Dungeon Master’s Ultimate Campaign Blueprint.

Here are the 3 reasons:

  1. Bad idea - “This sucks.”

  2. Imposter syndrome - “What makes me think I’m good enough?”

  3. Worthless (see footnote at the end) - “Nobody will want to buy it.”

You’ll always find a reason to quit. But these are excuses, not valid reasons.

By writing down your self-doubts, you can limit the power they have over you.

The next time you want to quit, write it down.

Keep a list of doubts and check it to see if you’ve already conquered that fear.

If so, move on.

It has no power over you anymore.

I call this a doubter’s checklist. And I’ll be using it for every new project I work on.

Doubts are:

  • Normal

  • Temporary

  • Conquerable

Remember, creativity is about the long game and doubts are short-term distractions.

When in doubt, rest. Tomorrow is a new day.

Footnote: I got my first pre-order for my book as I was writing this update. Not shitting you. And, Monday’s my birthday so what an awesome early gift. Thanks for pre-ordering, Jason!

The Dungeon Master’s Ultimate DM Blueprint

Thanks for being here. You rock!

Take care,

Joe