Last Updated on September 26, 2025 by Chin Yi Xuan
I’ve been spending the past month working on my upcoming book on dividend investing.
Embarassingly, the progress has been slower than what I initially expected out of myself.
The biggest hurdle?
The constant mental conversation that I have with myself:
“Am I good enough to actually publish a book?”
“Would people actually read this book?”
Table of Contents
Running away from my self-doubt
Facing (or more accurately, running away from) my self-doubt has been where I wasted most of my time doing.
When that happens, I’d find myself turning to non-productive YouTube videos.
And it sucks, because I have all the amazing ideas in my mind that got stuck the moment I try to turn them into actual words.
The truth is, in my 8-year content creation career, self-doubt has been the major hurdle that I have never overcome.
I believe it will resonate well if you have a project that you’ve always wanted to pursue, but never got to make it happen – or gave up in the process.
My misery continues until I come across 3 important principles that helped me slowly get back on track:
#1 B+ instead of A+
Being a perfectionist is one key reason why I got stuck so frequently in my work.
In my mind, I’ve always pictured my work to be ‘the perfect content that everyone would love’.
Pursuing an A+ masterpiece led me to feel stuck whenever I couldn’t reproduce what I had in mind into actual writing or content.
Worst, I turn to doom-scrolling YouTube or Instagram when I got stuck – which doesn’t help with the situation.
Until recently, I have realized the importance of ‘good enough‘ work:
- To just start writing (or scribbling ideas) instead of expecting myself to produce something perfect at first go.
- To be comfortable with using pointers initially, instead of expecting myself to form perfect sentences.
- To publish my work when it is at B+, even when I don’t feel comfortable doing so.
The whole point of publishing my work at B+ is a way for me to show up consistently despite imperfections, so in a year, the quality of my B+ work will outdo my A+ work at present day.
#2 Most people don’t care (and that’s a good thing)
Another reason why I find myself so miserable while writing is because I care too much about how people would think of my work.
I fear people wouldn’t like what I produce. I fear my readers would unsubscribe from my newsletter. I fear no one would find value in what I do.
Until I discovered that… most people really don’t care.
Most people are too occupied with their work & life to give a damn about what you want to do – and that’s a good thing.
Take this opportunity to share the C+ content, B- article, B+ work, and continue to hone the skills and build momentum with each work that is published.
Eventually, you’ll get better and attract the 10% people who would appreciate your work, and find value in what you produce.
That’s what makes me feel genuinely grateful when I write for my newsletter subscribers (you guys) every week.
#3 Do it for yourself
Things become easier when I approach my book as something that I wish my younger self had access to when I first started investing.
This reduces the weight that I need to produce a masterpiece that everyone likes.
Instead, when I write for my younger self, I will also help the people who are on the same journey as I am – such as:
- How to prepare for aging parents
- How to build a reliable dividend portfolio against uncertainties in life
- How to build freedom of choice in life via investing
To quote the author of my favourite book, ‘The Psychology of Money’:
Writing for yourself is fun, and it shows. Writing for others is work, and it shows.
– Morgan Housel
What to do if you are keen on pursuing a long-delayed project:
To summarize, here are the bullet-proof mindsets I’d like to share with you:
- Be comfortable with showing your B+ work so that one day your B+ work can outdo your A+ work in the present day.
- Just start – don’t worry about what most people would think because they are likely too busy with their own things in life. You’ll find your tribe, eventually.
- Do it for yourself. It’s less pressure and more fun that way.
Hope this week’s newsletter is helpful. All the best! (now i shall get back to writing my book)
