Watch for the chronic language of self-disparagement,

The moments when you say, “My problem is . . .”

Or, “It doesn’t matter what I think.”

If you say these kinds of things, you probably say them out of habit, almost unconsciously.

This is a product of your education too, at home and at school.

Pay attention to it.

Recognize how harmful it is.

Its message — subliminal or overt — is that your perceptions are worthless.

Do everything you can to subvert this habit.

Verlyn Klinkenborg in Several short sentences about writing