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

Your Council of Mentors
What I’m going to tell you next makes me sound crazy.
I talk to dead people.
No,  I’m  not  referring  to  ghosts  or  strangers  who  haunt  my  house.  I  talk  to
American novelist and short story writer John Cheever (1912-1982).
Known as the “Chekhov of the suburbs,” he wrote five novels and a number
of short story collections during his creative career. Six weeks before his death,
Cheever  was  awarded  the  National  Medal  for  Literature  by  the  American
Academy of Arts and Letters.

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He died in 1982 when I was only a year old.
So if I never met Cheever and he died when I was a baby, how can he be one
of my creative mentors?
Several years ago, I read The Journals of John Cheever, a book that gave me
insight into his creative process. Then I read several of Cheever’s novels, as well
as books by writers who influenced him.
Tracing the roots of his big ideas helped me understand why Cheever made
some  of  his  creative  choices  and  gave  me  more  of  a  feeling  for  what  inspired
him as a writer.
For a long time afterwards, when faced with a creative challenge I visualised
Cheever and asked him, “What would you do?” Now, his manifesto guides me.
To  write  well,  to  write  passionately,  to  be  less  inhibited,  to  be
warmer, to be more self-critical, to recognise the power of as well as
the force of lust, to write, to love.”
I’m  aware  this  makes  me  sound  quite  mad,  but  it’s  a  creative  process  that
American author Napoleon Hill (1883-1970) recommended in his seminal book
Think and Grow Rich!
He  suggested  keeping  an  “imaginary  council”  every  night  that  you  consult
when you have a problem or need advice.
He wrote,
Just before going to sleep at night, I would shut my eyes, and see, in
my  imagination,  this  group  of  men  seated  with  me  around  my
Council Table.
I  had  a  very  definite  purpose  in  indulging  my  imagination
through these nightly meetings. My purpose was to rebuild my own
character so it would represent a composite of the characters of my
imaginary counsellors.”
Hill’s  council  comprised  nine  of  his  mentors  including  Thomas  Edison  and

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Charles Darwin–people Hill never met. There’s no psychological trickery behind
his approach either.
Instead,  push  yourself  to  learn  from  every  possible  source  that  your
imaginary mentor offers. Read the books they cite, listen to what inspired them
and trace the roots of their creative work until you unearth their influences. Be
rigorous about applying what your mentor has to teach.