I’ve been working with creative and performing artists as, first, a therapist, and then for the last thirty-five years as a creativity coach. I’ve learned from my clients just how hard they find completing their creative work. Many creatives have trouble getting started; many have trouble working regularly; but almost all have special problems near the end, when the finish line is in sight. In this series, I want to spell out twelve reasons why completing creative work is so darn hard.
I’m framing this series from the point of view of a painter’s challenges, but the points apply to someone working in any creative field, from writing novels to game designing, from filmmaking to app development. I’m sure you’ll be able to easily translate the points I’m making to the medium in which you work. If you’d like additional resources, let me recommend three of my recent books: Redesign Your Mind, The Power of Daily Practice, and The Great Book of Journaling. Together they can provide you with a clear picture of how to get your creative work done through right thinking, good daily habits, and the self-awareness that journaling provides.
Here is challenge number 6.
Lingering doubts.
It’s very hard for most people not to doubt themselves sometimes—especially when it comes time to saying that one of their creative projects is successfully completed. An artist who finishes a painting may almost instantly have his mind throw up a doubt or some other unhelpful thought of the following sort:
+ “Maybe I should do more because there’s always more to do.”
+ “Maybe I’m done but am I really 100% certain about that cast shadow over there on the right?”
+ “Maybe I’m done but it doesn’t exactly look like what I had in mind for this painting.”
+ “Maybe I’m done but have I really answered all those objections raised by that gallery owner in London about whether I’m successfully cultivating a unique painting style?”
+ “Maybe I’m done but a painting is never really done, so how can I say that I’m done?”
+ “Maybe I’m done but wouldn’t just a little work there and a little work there improve it?”
+ “Maybe I’m done, but … ”
If one of these is the habitual way your mind plays tricks on you and keeps you from completing things in a timely and appropriate way, it is your job to get a grip on your mind. When you hear yourself doubting yourself in one of these unfortunate ways, exclaim, “No! I know that thought! It doesn’t serve me and I don’t want it! No, you darn thought, no!”
Who but you is in a position to put doubts of these sorts to rest? If you are plagued by doubts that are the equivalent of you experiencing some ambient anxiety and, as a consequence, pestering yourself unnecessarily, you must silence those doubts instantly!
More to come!
—
Photo credit: Shutterstock