Confidence | Puttylike

Fearful About An Event On The Horizon? Tips from an Anxious Comedian

21 January 2020

The first time I ever spoke in front of a large audience, I was terrified. Even the ironic comfort that the topic was “my fear of public speaking” didn’t help. My legs trembled so hard that I worried I might fall over. I could barely concentrate on what I was saying, only wondering what everybody […]

How to Deal with Negative Critiques of Your Art

29 October 2019

17 Comments

How to Deal with Negative Critiques of Your Art

Hey multipotentialite pals! Today, I want to talk about the act of putting your art out there for feedback and how both positive and negative evaluations can seriously affect your mood. Not that I’m speaking from experience or anything… Okay, I AM speaking from experience. Very recent experience, in fact, lol. As some of you […]

Six Lessons from Writing the Book I Swore I Wouldn’t Write

22 October 2019

9 Comments

“Never again.” – Neil Hughes, after writing a book After winning four Olympic gold medals, Steve Redgrave famously said that if anyone found him close to a rowing boat again, they could shoot him. Four years later, he won a fifth gold. Let’s be real—I am not as good at writing as Steve Redgrave is […]

How to Deal with Multipotentialite FOMO

10 September 2019

7 Comments

A couple of years ago, I offered to co-host a baby shower for a friend. Unfortunately, something else came up and I had to go out of town for a month. The other host took over, planned it all and left me off the guest list. She knew I’d be traveling, of course, but it […]

“The slightest reminder of paths not travelled can be agonizing”

3 September 2019

15 Comments

Once upon a time, my parents took me to the zoo. This day is full of memories which have stuck with me ever since—the sunshine, the excitement, the ice cream… even holding hands with my dad, watching eagerly as he unfolded the map. One of the sharpest and most vivid memories is of the dolphins. […]

The Reluctant Multipotentialite: What to Do When You Feel Like a Master of None

27 August 2019

16 Comments

“Life is barely long enough to get good at one thing. Be careful what you get good at.” Thanks, Matthew McConaughey. I was happily enjoying my Sunday night, watching an episode of True Detective with a glass of cabernet, when McConaughey’s character drops this line. And it hits a little too close to home. This […]

Why You Should Do Something Badly Today!

13 August 2019

16 Comments

“If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” – G. K. Chesterton Last week I was overcome with paralyzing guilt after slightly miscooking a sausage sandwich. Don’t worry—the sandwich was delicious. But even as I was putting it together, a critical internal voice was opining that the pan had been too hot, […]

A Simple Trick to Sidestep Your Self-Criticism

16 July 2019

28 Comments

Sometimes I’m ashamed to share my work. You might think that’s understandable (particularly if you’ve been exposed to many of my posts before!) but this isn’t simply a healthy sense of shame at my evident limitations. Often, it’s fear of my own unoriginality. That inner voice of shame tells me to scrap my work, and […]