Every day I struggle with my resistance to writing, and every day I lose the struggle a bit … but then I persevere. I lose more often than I win, but I win every day. And that’s what matters. Because we can’t get rid of the resistance to create — whether that’s creating art, starting a business, or writing. The resistance will always come up … but we have to learn how to overcome it, to work with it.
Do you face this resistance, and struggle with procrastination? Do you want to create daily, but face difficulty finding focus and fighting off distractions? Let’s talk about creating that habit, and how to overcome the obstacles that get in the way of the creation habit.
Today, I’ll share the main obstacles and what I do to overcome them.
What stands in our way of the creation habit? Here are the main ones:
Distractions.
We all face the problem of distractions, and we all give in to them. The only way to overcome them is to clear them away with a clean sweep: bookmark all your tabs, close your browser, close all other programs, turn off your phone, and open only the program you need for your creating. A blank text editor, a sketch pad — nothing else. Set a timer for five minutes, and just start. When the five minutes is up, congratulate yourself. Let yourself be distracted for a few minutes, then set the timer again. You can work your way to 10-15 minutes over time — but start with 5.
Fantasies about how easy/nice the creating will be.
It’s not easy — it’s hard and messy. These fantasies get in the way because when we face the reality, it never measures up to what we’d hoped. Instead, we need to recognize that our fantasies aren’t real. Turn to the reality, and be grateful to be here in this moment. It’s hard and messy, but still great, and we should be thankful for the opportunity.
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