Winning the Creative War

The Pain of Creation

Every act of artistic creation (business, blog, book or otherwise) begins in the mind.

They begin as acts of love (we care about our ideas) and defiance (challenging what is with what could be).

But being inside your own mind isn’t a pretty thing.  It’s nasty in there; what is right seems wrong; up is down; and every course of action can be rationalized (adding to the frustration).

Struggling with a creative puzzle or wrestling with a conceptual problem is brutal.

It challenges your skill; do you have the ability to bring this vision to life?

It challenges your character; do you have the fortitude – the grit – to take it all the way?

It challenges your belief in yourself; can you keep working toward an elusive goal, even when nothing pans out for weeks, months or years?

Do you really have what it takes to fight these creative battles, day in and day out?

And if the answer is YES to all of those questions, are you sure you’re not just lying to yourself?

The Inner Creative War

These are the internal battles of someone trying to do something new, of someone building something from scratch, of the person creating something unique, not because he was told, but because he chose.

It’s not reserved just for writers (experienced as writers block) or entrepreneurs (experienced as failure to launch), but for every single person who stands up and challenges the group; who leaves the tribal boundaries; who demands self-determination, regardless of the consequences.

It’s a battle waged by artists and inventors; by builders and breakers; by warriors and leaders.

It’s a war fought by those brave enough to question, challenge, and try.

And like any war, there will be casualties: your dreams may not become reality, your goals might not pan out, and your projects might fail.

It’s difficult, it’s unforgiving, and it’s (often) unfair.

When I characterize creation as an act of war, I mean it.

Winning the War

And yet some of us still feel compelled to create, even with this guarantee of discomfort.

Perhaps it’s because we expect the discomfort will fade when we “make it.”  And it might.

Or perhaps it’s because we believe the reward at the end will outweigh the pain of the process.  And this might be true.

Or perhaps we have no other option because the discomfort of not creating is more painful and terrifying than the possibility of trying and failing.  And this is probably the case.

Regardless the reason, the fact that some still want to create, still need to create, is what matters; because these are the people who will create.

Winning the creative war isn’t a matter of how.  For the creator, it’s a matter of when.

Oddly enough, that is exactly how you win.

It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much can you take and keep moving forward? That's how winning is done. [Rocky Balboa]


p.s. are you fighting the creative war right now?  Share with us in the comments below what you're creating and where you've found success (or how you've dealt with failure).

 

As soon as you choose to create something worthwhile, you take the first step in a long and very real journey…

Like most journeys, it's not always pretty.

Life will try to beat you down and break you if it can.

There will come a time when things are confusing, uncertain, and perilous.

And you WILL face setbacks, challenges, and failure.

Your peers might scorn you, your "tribe" ignore you, and your effort will seem in vain.

The path will be rarely straightforward, the road rarely clear, and the struggle lonely and sometimes desperate.

At times like these, it will make sense to quit.

The Adventurer

There's nothing pretty about doing something ambitious or unorthodox.

The journey of creating something worthwhile is messy - it can't be any other way.

The journey itself must be scary, dangerous, and unreasonable - otherwise, there would be no need for courage.

The adventurer recognizes the only paths left to explore are those that are scary, dangerous and unreasonable.

The adventurer understands that the guaranteed and safe path is traveled daily by those of little courage.

But the unknown path - the one that sits beyond the threshold of certainty - is ripe for exploration and for what befalls those brave enough to travel along it.

The Spoils of the Unknown Path

Your journey is unique.

At times it will be painful; you will doubt yourself and your project, question your ability, and challenge every virtue you thought you possessed.

But while your journey is unique (and the struggle will, at times, seem unbearably lonely), the pain you experience is universal.

Every adventurer sets his own course and travels his own path, but the pain he experiences - the loneliness, confusion, fear and desperation - those are experienced by every adventurer who chooses the unknown path.

But the path is painful for a reason.

Every great adventure ends with an equally great reward: whether it's discovering buried treasure, winning the championship title, or finding your way back home.

The spoils go to the victor, and the victor is always the one who sticks it out to the end.

The Road Less Traveled

Having the guts to travel the unknown path, to create something worthwhile, takes courage, boldness and (sometimes) madness.

Like everything worth doing, it won't be easy.

But like every difficult thing worth doing, the spoils go to the adventurer and the adventurer alone.

Have you started on your journey?

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

Join The Resistance, defeat your inner creative Enemy, and create your life's work.

Be Bold

The Problem With Hope

"I hope they like it."  

"I hope it works out."  

"I hope they will buy it."

The problem with hope isn't hope itself, but rather when we use the word hope as a replacement for "I wish someone else would take care of this problem for me."

When we "'hope" for things that way, we might as well throw in the towel and get out of the ring.

What You Own

Here's the thing; you don't have ownership over the reaction, response, or results. 

BUT...

You do have 100% responsibility over your actions.

Set a goal.  Commit.  Follow through.

That is what you have control over.  This is what you own.

Don't hope you will do your best - DO YOUR BEST.

What happens as a result is a result and will happen how it does.

Remember, the only thing you control, the only thing you OWN, are your own actions.

Don't hope they will be great, make them great.

Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. [Goethe

Be bold.


 

Join the Resistance

 

 

Goals

A Pause

The beginning of every year starts with reflection.

We reflect on the past year, on what we’ve done (or not done), on what we’re proud of (or not so proud of), and how we intend to make this year better.

When we reflect, it’s common to see a multitude of failures: failure to start, failure to finish, failure to ship.  Sometimes it hurts to think about.  Of course, with the right resolve, we quickly commit to something bigger and better for this year.

The Path Forward

As with the start of every year, plenty of books, blogs, newscasts, and TV shows will talk about this commitment to something bigger and better for the new year.

They’ll explain you need to set goals, but not just any goals: you need to set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-oriented goals (or some variation of this).

They’re right; setting these types of goals will increase the likelihood that your next venture is successful.

They’ll tell you that this time you REALLY need to commit; no half-hearted, wishful thinking.  You need to commit and make sure you stand by your commitment.  They’ll suggest you announce your intentions to someone else or that you make a contract to yourself that you personally sign.

And they’re right – getting something or someone to hold you accountable will increase your chances of success.

They’ll suggest getting a journal to record your daily progress, stocking your bookcase with productive content and filling your MP3 player with motivational podcasts.

And, for the most part, it’s all right and should help you realize your goals.

But you already know that.

So there is no reason to reiterate the information that is already out there – not on any of that stuff at least.

The Hard Part

But I will ask for 1 minute of your time.

In 1 minute write out every answer you can think of to the following question:

This year, I am committed to NOT…[fill in your answers here]

The REALLY hard part about commitment isn’t the grit needed to keep going when things start breaking, or the focus needed to finish and ship; no, the really hard part is all the things you must purposefully ignore if you really want to be successful.

If you want to be successful, you must commit, and when you commit, you close doors.

Closing doors is the hard part.

So I’m asking you to do the hard part – close doors this year.

Identify all the things you WON’T pursue this year; list out all the projects you WON’T start; write down all the things you WON’T agree to; determine all the ideas you WON’T develop this year.

The Scary Part

“But what if…”

Stop.

That’s the Enemy talking.

The Enemy wants you to keep your options open because if they stay open, you’ll never focus on one thing long enough to ACTUALLY instigate (start, finish, AND ship).

The Enemy wants you to keep all your doors open because when things start breaking (and they will), the Enemy will have an easier time goading you into changing direction, quitting on your project, and moving into one of your many open doors (available options).

The worst part: you won’t even recognize this is the Enemy because you’ve been taught to never put all your eggs in one basket.

Somehow, instead of that phrase reminding you to diversify your investments, it has mutated into an excuse for idealness, non-commitment, and retreat when things start breaking (“live to fight another day” right?).

This is scary.

Your Part

Don’t be a victim of The Enemy this year.

Don’t waste away another 365 days building someone else’s dream, slaving away just to slave away, or living a life of quiet desperation.

This year you can instigate your great project, begin building your empire, and continue (or start) creating your life’s work.

The power is so completely in your control it is painful to mention because more than a few will ignore it.

They will ignore that delicate inkling in their heart that tells them to start, finish and ship their great idea; the one that pulls at them every so often and asks to be considered; the one that that quietly begs to be given a chance.

They will ignore it and the spark will fade.

And another year will go by with nothing but reflections of what you did (but mostly didn’t do), what you’re proud of (but mostly what you’re not so proud of), and intentions of making this next year better.

Fill in the Blank

Don’t wait another hour to close some of those open doors: close them now.

Don’t wait another day to start on something worthwhile: start today.

Don’t wait for someone else to tell you what to do and how to do it: draw your own map.

This year I am committed to NOT [fill in the blank in the comments below]

One Habit

When my thoughts beckon my tired body homeward I will resist the temptation to depart. I will try again.  I will make one more attempt to close with victory, and if that fails I will make another.  Never will I allow any day to end with a failure...I will persist until I succeed. [The Greatest Secret in the World]

If you could create one habit this new year, what would it be?

How powerful would it be if you created the habit of ending your day with a victory?

How many pages would you write this year?

How many sales would you close?

How much weight would you lose?

Daily Victory

Whether in business, family, spiritual, or creative life, ending the day in victory has great power.

Forgot to write today?  Finish one sentence before you go to sleep.

Was your day unusually busy and you missed your workout?  Do a 3 minute workout of the day  before you head to bed.

Were you unable to close a sale?  Send off one more email or make one more call before you call it a day.

It's as simple as that:

Don't end the day in failure.  End in victory.

Don't go to sleep until you have succeeded in completing the thing you promised yourself you would finish.

Keep your promises: especially the ones made to yourself.

Persistance

And if you think one sentence, a simple 3 minute workout, or a single call won’t make a difference - it does.

Remember, it’s the small, tiny actions we take every day that create our empires.

Nothing is trivial when it comes to creating your life’s work – the greatest novel is composed of thousands of single words; the greatest athlete is the product of individual repetitions; the greatest salesman is nothing more than the accumulation of thousands of calls.

Never end the day with failure.

End the day in victory.

Persist until you succeed.


Never fight alone:  Join the Resistance.

gritBreaking

Your life will get busy.

If not this week, then next week, or the week after that, or sometime in the future.

It's inevitable that things will eventually unhinge, problems will occur, or something unexpected will happen: life is uncertain.

And at some point in the future, your focus will shift entirely to the few urgent things right in front of you, and the less urgent (but often more important) projects will fall by the wayside.

When things get busy, projects and plans start breaking.

Lasting

There are lots of people starting things every day.

This can seem overwhelming to the person looking to enter the arena.  After all, with all this competition, what are the chances that you can make it - that you will succeed where so many fail?

Simple: there are lots of people starting, but very few finish, and even fewer ship.

The reason?  Most people don't commit.

When things start breaking, they quit.

And because most quit, there's a lot less competition than you might imagine.

The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence... [Think and Grow Rich]

Focusing

To build your empire, you don't have to be the most talented, the smartest, or the most creative.

All it requires is that you take one small action every day, no matter what.

All you need is grit - the resolve to finish, even (especially) when things start breaking.

The weakest person with grit will always outlast the strongest person with zero resolve.

So don't focus on creating the perfect schedule or setting up the most efficient and productive routine - life will get in the way.

Instead, focus on the one thing that really matters - the one thing you have complete control over - your work.

Do it every day and see your project through to the end, regardless of what life throws at you.

When things start breaking, have the resolve to finish; have grit.

Your life's work depends on it.

Never give in, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to a force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. [Winston Churchill]

 


Join the Resistance

Every entrepreneur, artist, inventor, warrior and explorer must be a little mad.

It takes someone just a slight bit off - someone a bit weird, unusual or odd - to lead without permission.

There’s no good reason to go against the grain, to try something that might not work, or to stand up and take ownership over your actions and results.

Instigating is completely inadvisable.

And because it’s inadvisable, nobody is doing it – at least nobody in their right mind.

And that’s exactly why we need it.

If the instigator wasn't mad he wouldn't set audacious goals, he wouldn't limit his options, and he wouldn't start for no other reason than “because.”

And he wouldn't be an instigator.

Without the instigator, we wouldn't have miraculous charities, inconceivable books, or incredible breweries.

Without the instigator, we wouldn't have change, growth or improvement.

And without madness, we wouldn't have the instigator.

So go on, be a little weird, be slightly off, be a bit mad.

We need it.

If he waits for the ideal moment, he will never set off.  The Warrior requires a touch of madness to take the next step. [Paulo Coelho]

Starting down the path to success is simple.

To be successful at anything, you must commit.

But committing to anything means you make a transition.

When you commit, you transition from someone who dabbles to someone who goes all in; from someone who quits when things break to someone who takes it all the way; from someone who lets the claustrophobia of determination keep them from pursuing something worthwhile, to someone willing to face the loneliness of creation without hesitation.

When you commit, you make the transition from Hobbyist to Professional.

This transition changes everything.

From Hobbyist to Professional

Transitioning from Hobbyist to Professional changes your priorities.

When you finally take yourself and your work seriously enough to sell your product, you will find that things in your life start to prioritize themselves organically.

The things you thought were important - like watching the news or knowing pop culture trivia - fade to the background and become superfluous.

The things you had initially avoided as unnecessary discomforts – waking up early, writing every day, or never ending the day without a sale – become your lifeblood.

Transitioning from Hobbyist to Professional not only alters your priorities, it forces you to identify your focus.

In order to instigate (start, finish, and ship) successfully, you will need to focus entirely on one end-state, and this end-state will require all your time, energy and creativity to bring to fruition; it requires everything you've got.

To feel ambition and to act upon it is to embrace the unique calling of our souls. Not to act upon that ambition is to turn our backs on ourselves and on the reason for our existence. [Turning Pro]

Becoming a Professional is no joke.

Closing Doors

Nothing great is created by half-hearted commitment, lack of follow through, or someone unwilling to take it all the way.

The Professional understands this and acts accordingly.

Success requires commitment and only the Professional, not the Hobbyist, is ready to take on the pain, heartache and seriousness of commitment.

Committing itself is simple: all you have to do is choose one end-state and make sure you get there (no matter what).

The difficult part of commitment isn’t the focusing on one end-state, nor the grit it takes to bring that end-state into existence (although that requires something special too); the difficult part is what focusing on one end-state means for everything else in your life.

Commitment means purposefully ignoring other end-states, other projects, and other courses of action.

Commitment to anything (a healthier lifestyle, a new project, your life’s work) means you discriminate; that you choose one goal over another.

Commitment means you close doors; that the only door you leave open is the one that leads to your chosen goal.

Wishing never solved the problem. If you wanna get it big time, go ahead and get it, get it big time. [Yeasayer]

Limiting Your Options

When we commit, we inevitably lose out on other paths, other ambitions, and other goals.

Sometimes it even means losing out on the people closest to us.

To do that willingly is tough.  It’s scary.  It's madness.

There’s nothing easy about commitment, which is exactly why most people don’t commit and instead “keep their options open” into eternity…

But here’s the catch: We think keeping our options open gives us safety, or power, or certainty.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

The only way to guarantee failure is to never close any doors at all.

All you have to do to make sure you never build your empire, or develop that healthy lifestyle, or create your life’s work, is to keep all your options open, to never close yourself off to anything, and to stay available ad infinitum; to seek and scan for success, but never focus to bring it into existence.

Closing doors is scary; you might choose the wrong one, miss a great opportunity, or regret the choice you make.

Close a door and something bad might happen.

You might fail.

Keeping all your doors open is comforting; you never have to live with the pain of second-guessing your choice, the regret of choosing wrong, or the responsibility of creating your life's work.

Keep all your doors open and nothing will happen.

You're guaranteed to fail.

There is no scarcity of opportunity…only scarcity of resolve to make it happen. [Wayne W. Dyer]

The choice is yours.

Into the Ring

Creating

Creating anything takes guts; I explained that in depth in my book The Art of Instigating.

It takes guts because you're going to take a hit (no question about it), and taking a hit isn't pleasant.

Nobody WANTS to take a hit.

But the person unwilling to take a hit might as well stay out of the arena.

The boxer not willing to get knocked down shouldn't enter the ring, just like the creator/producer/writer/inventor not willing to fail should avoid creating art.

When you step into the ring - when you enter the arena - you will take a hit.

If you’re not ready to deal with it – to take a hit and to hit back – you’ve lost before you even started.

The Hobbyist

Most people don’t commit.

Most people don’t go all in.

Most people don’t burn the boat.

As soon as you make up your mind to do all three, you’ve just eliminated 90% of the competition.

Why?  Because most people don’t commit, when things get difficult (and they always do), they throw in the towel.

After all, what’s the point of going through the pain of taking another hit when you had no intention of making it to the last round in the first place?

Most people dabble – most people are hobbyists – and when the real pain of creating, building and inventing sets in, they throw in the towel and walk away.

To the End

Eventually you’ll get hit.

No matter how good a boxer, no matter how great a writer, designer, builder, entrepreneur or inventor, you will experience rejection, setback and failure.

You can’t avoid taking a hit, but you can train yourself to take a hit (and hit back).

The hobbyist spends his energy trying to avoid taking a hit.  When the hit comes (and it always does), he's done.

The hobbyist never commits.

The professional – the person serious about what he's doing – is willing to take a hit and knows how to hit back.

The professional commits.

And because the professional commits, he has very little competition from the hobbyists.

The professional will inevitably find success - he’s in it to the end.

The hobbyist is done before he starts.

Which are you?

 

mountainpass - how to beat negative self-talk propaganda (before it beats you)

The good thing about instigating is that so few people actually instigate, you’re competition is pretty limited.

This make success (in any venture) possible and way more probable than you might expect.

The bad thing about instigating is that so few people actually instigate, you’re not going to have very much company on your way to the top (or once you reach the top).

The hard part when starting any worthwhile project isn’t the competition – they are few and far between (and often imaginary).  The hard part is trying to get there by yourself, because for large parts of the journey, you’re on your own.

The Enemy knows this.

And the Enemy will do everything in its power to break you down and get you to quit.

The Enemy will use fear and uncertainty to cloud your mind and confuse your goals.  The Enemy will hit you when you’re weakest – when you haven’t had success in a while – and get you to question yourself (“why am I even doing this?”), critique yourself (“this isn’t good enough”), and ultimately beat yourself (“I can’t do this anymore”).

The Enemy can use these tactics because you’re alone, and it knows that when you’re alone you’re most susceptible to one of the Enemy’s most effective attacks: negative self-talk propaganda.

Negative self-talk propaganda is all the terrible, unproductive, fruitless, worthless, silly things we say to ourselves when we’re building something worthwhile.

The Enemy uses negative self-talk propaganda against us any time we’re doing something courageous.

“In order for there to be courage, of course, there must be risk.  It doesn’t take courage to open the refrigerator, because there’s no downside.” [The Icarus Deception]

And fighting alone to create your life’s work is the riskiest thing you can do.

The thing to remember is this:

The Enemy can’t fight (effectively), when we’re engaged in our worthwhile project because it means we’re taking back brain map territory.

“The actions we perform more often, the movements we practice more consistently, and the senses we employ more frequently, begin to control more brain map territory.” [The Art of Instigating]

As long as we're taking back territory, we keep the Enemy at bay.

The key is to know the Enemy will attack us in predictable ways, to anticipate this ahead of time and plan for how we will deal with it, and, when the time comes, to follow through with our plan.

The best way to beat the Enemy’s negative self-talk propaganda isn’t to think happy thoughts.

It’s not to repeat motivational quotes to yourself in the hopes of creating a positive mental attitude.

It’s not even to imagine how good you feel as if you’ve already accomplished your goal in the hopes of attracting the solution to you.

No, none of these will help you beat the Enemy.

The only way to beat the Enemy and overcome negative self-talk propaganda is this:

Get to work.

The negative self-talk propaganda in your head will fade when you sit down to write your next page, build the next part of your business, or initiate your project's next move.

And that's it - that's all there is.

Get to work and you'll beat the Enemy.

Simple, but not easy.

 


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