The Power of Creativity \(Book 1\): Learning How to Build Lasting Habits, Face Your Fears and Change Your Life pdfdrive com

What Your Journey Looks Like
Start by finding out what you feel passionate about.
People say it’s a “passion project” when they’re describing a film they had to
create, a book they were compelled to write or an album they needed to record
even though they’d no idea if their work would sell.
If  you  can  find  what  you  feel  passionate  about,  you’ll  have  a  reason  to  get
up, get out there and create.
Now don’t get me wrong: When you’re new at your craft, some people will
wonder what you’re doing and how you’re spending your time.
It doesn’t help that many of your early ideas serve as inward markers of your

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progress  –  that  you  turned  up,  that  you  tried  –  rather  than  something  you  can
show.
Passion will keep you going when nothing else will. It’s your lifeline during
dark times. So pay attention to what drives and inspires you, to what you work
on in the wee small hours. It’s your guiding purpose.
Understand becoming more creative is as much about preparation and smart
habits as it is about moments of divine inspiration.
Weiner  spent  years  researching  Mad  Men  on  the  side.  Hill  lay  in  bed  each
night mentally preparing with his imaginary council for the following day. Even
Cheever used journal writing as a form of practice.
You’ll have more time to prepare and create smart habits if you cull pointless
activities  from  your  life.  Instead  of  watching  another  boxset  on  Netflix,  learn
how to ease yourself into your work and nudge yourself forwards, one idea, one
side project at a time.
When  you’re  starting  off,  you  might  need  to  support  yourself  with  a  “real
job”  and  practise  your  passion  projects  around  the  margins  of  the  day,  in  the
morning before work or late at night.
That’s OK.
Your job is a safety net that gives you freedom to learn what your audience
wants  and  your  craft  demands  each  day.  It  gives  you  the  freedom  to  jump
without  feeling  overwhelmed  by  fear.  Besides,  lots  of  artists  worked  in  other
jobs when they were starting off.
T.S.  Elliot  worked  in  a  bank.  Ernest  Hemingway  was  a  journalist.  Even
Leonardo da Vinci took jobs as an advisor to his patrons and king.
If  it  helps,  know  that  side  projects  (whether  you  consider  them  your  job  or
what  you  do  late  at  night  or  first  thing  in  the  morning)  can  lead  to  great  and
unexpected things.
I know it’s tough.
Some  days  you  will  strike  the  page  or  canvas  repeatedly,  but  nothing  will
spark.  Your  creative  work  is  a  grind,  you  put  in  hours  alone  in  a  room  and
produce nothing more than a useless sentence, a single cord or a sketch.
Your practise feels like a lonely cry in the dark.

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And the reply?
A little voice whispering, “What do you think you’re doing?’”
King heard that same voice when he wrote an early draft of Carrie,  but  his
wife  helped  him  finish  his  first  book.  He  was  brave  enough  to  listen  to  his
mentor.
If you’ve struggled up till now, you too can change your stripes.
Turn up every day and practise your craft, even when you don’t feel like it.
Acknowledge your fears and self-doubt for what they are: Imposters in the way
of your creative ideas.
Push past them!
If you need help practising or you want to save time, pick a creative master
to follow. Using their guidance, you can avoid many of the potholes and wrong
turns that lie before you.
Remember  to  be  bold  with  your  creative  experiments,  challenge  your
assumptions, put one foot in front the other and keep going.
The road ahead is long and winding, but you are bolder, stronger and more
powerful than you can imagine.

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