Writer’s Block Wasn’t the Real Problem
My mind got clearer, my life got calmer, and I had to learn how to write from a different place.
Tonight I went on a walk with my dog.
It’s funny, because that seems to be the source of my reflections. The truth is that I walk because it helps me just relax and when you relax is when your most creative thoughts show up. Shower thoughts, anybody?
Is winter here, cold as hell but I like to go just with a hoodie, rarely with a jacket, because I want to train myself to think even when the conditions don’t allow for proper thinking.
The problem lately is that my mind has been pretty clear for a while. Something my old self would have gone to jail for — figuratively, for the record. My thoughts used to be cloudy, scattered, full of spice. It was awful at the time because when I wanted to focus I couldn’t really do it. One thought after another, like a chain reaction. Pew, pew, pew.
Now, I just look at the sky and smile. Look that is cloudy and dark, like the openings of the Harry Potter movies. And I like it. I like to have that problem.
Because for me, in my life, it’s no longer a problem.
But for my writer self, it’s hell.
Some people call it The Writer’s Block
But is it Writer’s Block, really? I feel in my case it’s something different. I’ll make my case in a second.
Let’s start with the idea of the writer’s block.
From my research, it’s a very common topic. In short, writer’s block shows up when you are trying to write, and nothing comes up. For hours, for days, for years.
My problem is not that nothings comes up. I have a lot of ideas, I believe. My problem is different; and I will self diagnose because why not?
I ran out of meaningful experiences of me drifting. The main goal to start this newsletter was to document my journey, share my struggles, tell my kids, and eventually you, all about this mastery path. This only happened because I started writing, because I had to force to self-analyze and apply my own lens to my life. Now, I try to document as I go. I don’t want to fake experiences because that’s not cool.
The cadence in how drift presents in my life has decreased, precisely because of this journey, as paradoxical as it sounds, I wouldn’t be writing about this if I hadn’t learn and practice through this lens. In consequence, my mind now remains grounded more frequently, so I observe, and let my day flow with not as many intrusive thoughts that could lead to meaningful content.
Because of I-don’t-know-what, my writing shifted from documenting to essaying. But I think it was necessary to be where I am at now. The problem is that because of that shift, my writing voice shifted too; and while I liked it at first, because I sounded grounded, I realize now that it sounded monotone.
And I don’t know if I want that.
I think in part was because at the beginning my first articles with traction used that voice and they got the engagement. I am human too. But it took away some authenticity from me, and with that, the urge to polish every single article I write.
I don’t want that.
👉 Want to actually train this, not just read it?
Each week, alongside this reflection, I publish a short practice guide — something you can work through in 10 minutes on a slow day, so the idea sticks when a hard day hits.
It’s called the Paid Companion. $9.99/month.
Gotta practice what I preach
So during this walk, I had this cheap epiphany.
I own this newsletter. I can change my writing voice... Thinking too much on how to polish an idea or an article was costing my creativity, and I think in part that is what was just making me look at the sky and not think in other ideas.
So I decided that I don’t want to write so polished and structured, but closer to the heart. I want to keep the science, because learning about all of that — psychology, behavioral theory, neuroscience — is what crafted the lens I use to see my life through, and the ideas that helped me develop Adaptable Discipline as a way to engineer my practice of discipline.
My writing voice was in the line of the neutral observer. But I started writing from the trenches, and I will go back to that.
You will still see terms like self-governance, agency, coherence, drift. Because I use them in my life, but the reflections you will read from now on will be like this.
Less essay, more journal page.
I can’t not talk about the science behind this
Writer’s block is real, and there are studies that suggest this doesn’t only happen in writing, but in other areas too where we rely on creativity.
This can happen when we have too many ideas and don’t know how to turn them into something tangible, or when we feel physiologically blocked from accessing new ideas because of stress, trauma, or pressure.
In my case, I think the pressure of having to write something as good is what hurt my writing, and because of that, the spread of my ideas too. So please, do not try this at home. Zero stars. Not recommended.
When you put that kind of pressure on yourself, like I did, the amygdala, which is involved in stress and threat detection, becomes more active. At the same time, the prefrontal cortex, the part that helps you organize thoughts, plan, and think with flexibility, doesn’t work as freely. So it makes sense that instead of ideas flowing, you freeze when trying to think of what to write, especially when a deadline is coming.1
On the other hand, when you take that pressure off your shoulders, either because you decide you don’t give a damn anymore, or because you realize things can be different, your brain has more room to work the way it should, and it becomes easier to think, connect ideas, and write.
That’s why journaling works for so many people. It gives your thoughts somewhere to go. When everything stays in your head, it can feel messy fast. Once you put it on paper, it usually feels a bit lighter, a bit clearer, and easier to work through. There’s also research on expressive writing that points in that direction, even if it doesn’t work the same way for everyone.2
Did I lack ideas, or was my brain just more relaxed?
I would say it was a mix...
As I said before, this journey has helped me become a better version of myself. I’m not as pulled away from coherence — my own direction — as before. I still make mistakes sometimes, but it’s just a regurgitated version of what I have already shared with you.
As a result, my brain now just doesn’t ruminate as much; it takes things easily now; it doesn’t just act out of ego as much; and I try to remain integral.
So, yeah, I don’t overthink as much; but at the same time, I don’t stress out too much for the lack of ideas either. In a general scenario this is fantastic; it’s amazing; and I would give myself pats in the back.
But I want to keep spreading my word. I want to still help others to go through the same journey without going through the same hurdles, and help them realize that discipline is a practice, not a definitive trait. That discipline is just the label for the practice of constant return to coherence. I want to be able to keep showing people that you can engineer your practice, and that Adaptable Discipline was created precisely for that.
So I cannot give myself pats in the back in this field. I need balance.
I think the best analogy I can find for this is filling a bucket with water.
Let’s say your faucet is very powerful. The stream of water that comes out of there comes really fast, and is capable of filling buckets with ease. The problem is, when you open that faucet, it takes a lot of strength to shut it back off. So while you try to shut it off, your bucket overflows, spills, and leaves a mess that you later have to clean.
I think this happens a lot with writers that start writing and realize that channeling their thoughts on paper is therapeutic; they end up overdoing it.
Back to the metaphor, let’s say you learn how to use your strength to shut off the faucet. You know you can turn it back on, but even if you learned how to shut it off, it will create a mess again, and it will take forever to fix it. So you just decide, almost unconsciously, not to do it; you just find other ways to fill your buckets. Some might be more cumbersome, but at least they don’t leave a mess behind.
One day you realize you just need to apply some grease to the faucet. Just in the right quantity. You learn that you can control the stream now, and can fill the bucket just enough to do what you want to do with it.
I’m at that stage now.
It can take a toll on your identity
If you are in this conundrum, your identity might already have been impacted by this. Maybe this is not for me, nobody wants to read my work, this is too much effort are some of the ways this shows up.
Writing is not the only place you will find this. For other disciplines, the message is the same: I’m not enough; the only thing that changes is the packaging.
So please read this, and save it, memorize it or tattoo it on your arm. Just make sure you don’t forget it: Keep going. And if you already stopped, then focus on returning.
Just return.
Discipline is the practice of returning over and over to what matters. And if writing is the direction you set for yourself, because it mattered, then why would you let drift to take that away from you? Let discipline be the secret weapon that makes you and your identity indestructible.
One practice that can help you get back to it today is: take that thing that matters to you, and determine what is the minimal action you can take to get back to it. If it’s working out again, try a 1-minute plank; if it’s writing, start by writing about anything, apply some stream of consciousness, just to get going; if it’s going back to a project, check what’s the minimum task that will help you move forward.
We all drift; it’s human and it’s normal. We all have busy lives and priorities.
If this is your priority, treat it like one. Even small actions count. In fact, those are the ones that count the most, because a chain of small actions every day compound more than sporadic, bigger actions across a year.
The consistency is not in pushing through nonstop, but in to keep returning over time.
Once you return, the next step is to learn how can you make it better — my decision of following my own voice — and then just do it.
You will see the change; and it doesn’t matter if it’s for better or for worse, it’s yours, and you got to decide what direction you want to take.
What I want you to take away from this
I’ll try to keep this short.
What I would love for you to remember after reading this is that writer’s block is sometimes just a fancy way to say that we are not in the space to write; and that can extend for years; and that can apply to other disciplines too. Turns out that we can engineer that, but before doing it, we need to work on our ability to detect drift.
The thing with drift is that you might not have realized that you just stopped doing the things that mattered because life happened, so honing our ability to detect this will allow us to know where and when to practice discipline.
You won’t even notice, but once you start returning you will realize; maybe like me; that noticing these blips will become easier each time, and changing course will become as natural as waking up in the morning.
In our next paid companion we will work on training our detection time; how long do we take to detect drift; so we can take action before we even act out of character.
Until then, remember to take one small action that can help you return.
Hope you have a wonderful day!
✨ Ideas Worth Exploring
If this piece resonated, here are a few more that go hand-in-hand.
Arnsten, A. F. T. (2009). Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 410–422. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2648
Niles, A. N., Byrne Haltom, K. E., Mulvenna, C. M., Lieberman, M. D., & Stanton, A. L. (2014). Effects of expressive writing on psychological and physical health: A meta-analytic review and the moderating role of emotional expressivity. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70(10), 829–844. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22088
Writer’s block is often just reputation protection. Once something is published, it stops being private thinking and becomes identity.
- Double🆔️