The Guru
Recently I’ve been reading Rick Rubin’s book “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” while trying to rewire my brain and general habits when it comes to creativity. I’ve been approaching the world from the perspective of “I’m a creative person” for most of my life, and have recently hit a brick wall of creative block that has been fortified with impostor syndrome. To combat this I have been reading this book from the perspective of “I am not creative. What can I takeaway from this book?”.
Several chapters have taken me by surprise with how laser accurate they are when it comes to my experiences and my general internal dialogue. The chapter titled “Self Doubt” was especially potent.
About a third of the way through the book there is a list called “Thoughts and habits not conducive to work” which I will type out below. From here I will print it out and carry it with me in my wallet and perhaps use it as a bookmark. I hope that you find this list enlightening and inspirational.
Thoughts and habits not conducive to work:
Believing you’re not good enough.
Feeling you don’t have the energy it takes.
Mistaking adopted rules for absolute truths.
Not wanting to do the work (laziness).
Not taking the work to its highest expression (settling).
Having goals so ambitious that you can’t begin.
Thinking you can only do your best work in certain conditions.
Requiring specific tools or equipment to do the work.
Abandoning a project as soon as it gets difficult.
Feeling like you need permission to start of move forward.
Letting a perceived need for funding, equipment, or support getting the way.
Having too many ideas and not knowing where to start.
Never finishing projects.
Blaming circumstances or other people for interfering with your process.
Romanticizing negative behaviors or addictions.
Believing a certain mood or state is necessary to do your best work.
Prioritizing other activities and responsibilities over your commitment to making art.
Distractibility and procrastination.
Impatience.
Thinking anything that’s out of your control is in your way.