Look Inside: Building Habits
And removing creator's block once and for all.
I have a friend – a very talented musician friend – who is incredibly good at what they do and has gained a substantial amount of success in what they do for the time they’ve been doing it. We had a deep chat over the holidays – such that a lot of people have over cocktails and Christmas spirit – about what’s holding them back from committing fully to music. And this friend of mine – they are incredibly honest and self-aware – they said, it’s not artistic limitations or fear or overthinking that’s stopping them, it’s their ‘laziness’.
Their words, not mine, as ‘laziness’ is a dirty word in my opinion. No one is ‘lazy’ per se – we procrastinate, we find it hard to focus, we get self-conscious and stop what we’re doing because of some mysterious internal dread. But it’s not in our nature, and I’ve known my friend for many years, and I know surely they are not ‘lazy’ – they just need consistency.
This is not a motivational letter on ‘optimising productivity’, as I believe that to be a dirty concept, too. In the past, I’ve destroyed myself over addiction to this exactly, ‘optimising productivity’, doing more, and more, and more. Accepting the concepts of ‘hustle’ and ‘grind’ leads to a terrifying voice inside your head telling you that no matter how much you do, it will never be enough and you can always do more. I used to believe this to a tee (so much so I tattooed the words ‘do more’ on my body years ago, not that I regret that tattoo, but I wouldn’t get it today) and now I’m in a lengthy process of trying to unlearn a principle so deeply ingrained in me – I’m trying to find a balance between relentless hard work, but not so much that it takes over my life and invades every thought I have and every second of my being. A tough balance to find, but I’m on the long road there.
Anyway. Consistency. Consistency is key because work is nothing more than habit. And creativity can be habit, too.
I’ve been writing something recently, something important, something that has taken more time than anything else I’ve written before and something that (hopefully? probably?) matters more than anything I’ve written before, too. I’ve never had writer’s block. I’ve never really struggled to write; of course I’ll hit a wall at times, and I’ll stare at the page for hours (literally) thinking of ways to fix the issue I’m dealing with, but there’s never been a case of not knowing how to fix the issue, there’s just been the case of looking for the best way to fix the issue.
How? How, my friend asked me, do I not have writer’s block, or creativity block, or how do I manage to just write as much as I do?
Consistency. Consistency is key, and this is not some big secret as many have said it before me, but it’s true. If you’re struggling to write, write every day. But really write every day, commit to really doing that. It won’t be that every day words will flow and you’ll churn out ten pages – no, those days are a unicorn – but you have to commit to your story and care for it every day. Some days are thinking days, yes, but think actively. Some days maybe you just can’t make yourself think of anything at all – write a sentence. If you write one sentence every day, you’ll just get used to the idea of writing every day, and soon you’ll be writing a page a day, and soon, you’ll be writing with ease.
I always loved to write, when I was a kid I would write short stories or my own little stupid ‘novellas’. When I went to university, I really wanted to learn screenwriting – not so much structurally, more the format of screenwriting. When to use what transition, what’s allowed, what are parentheticals, how do I do this? I said, every day, I’ll write for 30 minutes – I’ll make a promise to myself to write for 30 minutes – not because I want to write something great or even good, but just because I want to learn and get used to the concept of screenwriting. And it worked because that’s just how it goes – we build habits.
None of this is to say I’m special or more hard working or more creative – I assure you, I am none of those things. I’ve just been lucky enough to build a habit early on and stay consistent with it, which is something that everyone can do, and not difficult at all as long as you promise yourself you will do something every single day. If you’re struggling to write or produce or paint or sculpt – test my hypothesis. Whatever you want to do – spend 10 minutes a day doing it every day for the next 90 days. I promise (if I’m wrong, you can beat me with a stick), in 90 days, it will be so much easier and you will enjoy it so much more. What’ve you got to lose?