Esmé Wang: Keeping Momentum While Living with Disability (Episode 244)

This week, New York Times bestselling author and essayist Esmé Wang joins the show. Esmé first talks about growing up with immigrant parents, and how that shaped her ideas of accomplishments and what it meant to succeed as a creative. She details how she went on to go to Yale, became a scientist, and then veered onto the path of writing and how her illness taught her to just “be” instead of always trying to be productive. She shines a light on the lessons she learned from having her book rejected 41 times before being selected as a once-in-a-decade award winner. Esmé is also the founder of The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy.

Key Takeaways:

[2:51] When you’re a creator and dealing with disabilities and chronic illness, one of the things you have to accept is that your plans don’t always work out the way you want them to, because life happens.

[3:19] Esmé talks about growing up as a professional writer with immigrant parents from Taiwan who put a very high emphasis on attending an Ivy League school and productivity.

[12:02] One of the problems of living a creative life and unconventional path is that the normal markers people would use for success may not be there.

[13:05] Esmé’s first book was rejected 41 times before it was picked up by a publisher. She talks about how luck plays a role in success.

[17:53] We all have the same hours in a day as Beyonce, but definitely not the same level of support!

[21:01] Esmé discusses her own dealing with illness as a person that put high importance on output and productivity.

[25:07] How can people with chronic illness and disability reframe the way they look at productivity and time management in a way that doesn’t lead to frustration and disappointment?

[28:01] Culture and our capitalistic society are obsessed with productivity.

[35:08] Able-bodied people often don’t realize how much it takes for someone with a disability or chronic illness to do the things they view as “normal” or easy.

[38:41] How the Momentum App can help.

[42:22] How we can better communicate with the people in our lives when we need a break or are running out of energy.

[53:24] Challenge: write down EVERYTHING you do in a day. Everything. You are doing way more than you think you are.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Productive Flourishing

Start Finishing: How to Go from Idea to Done, by Charlie Gilkey

The Academy

Momentum App

Esmé Wang

The Unexpected Shape Academy

Adam Grant

Brené Brown

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