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Defending Democracy's avatar

Early in my career in business I was looking for a job and prepared a resume. I didn't have the confidence to rely on my own judgment, so I asked a number of people in high positions in business to offer suggestions for improvement. Each suggestion I received I would duly incorporate into the resume. I changed titles, I changed emphasis, I changed the ordering of the sections. I took out my doctorate ('who cares in business if you have a doctorate'), I put in the insurance exams I had taken, etc. etc.

In the end I couldn't recognize myself at all, so I trashed the whole thing.

It seems to me that all of those "not enough"s are instances of a single underlying "not enough:" Not MYSELF enough. How can I write compellingly if I'm constantly measuring myself against other people?

Why make writing even harder than it already is?

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Brian's avatar

So, I felt pretty confident with things as I worked my way down your list of not enoughs until I reached not Didion enough. That hit hard. Your list of not enoughs is instructive. We all harbor insecurities. If only we could harness these to inform our writing. Thanks, Meta for helping us overcome our humanity.

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