We all have bad days where we experience self-doubt, we compare ourselves to others, we wonder if we’ll ever get it right, the stuff we’re producing doesn’t match the vision we have inside our heads. And it’s easy to let this heaviness take over.
But what if there was another way?
Self-doubt, comparison, etc. are natural, especially when we’re stretching ourselves and trying something new. We all experience these feelings at some point or another, so you are are in good company, and I think this experience becomes much easier when we acknowledge that these feelings are present.
But we run into trouble when we let them take over.
One way of thinking about these feelings is that they can ride in the passenger seat as we keep moving forward on our creative journey, but they can’t take the wheel (hat tip to Caroline Leon for this analogy). When that happens, we end up driving around in circles, getting stuck in this process of feeling bad, ruminating on why we feel bad, feeling worse, ruminating more, and so on. Round and round.
So in today’s post, I want to share a very doable tip that helps us shift those thoughts and feelings from the driving seat and move them back over to the passenger seat where they belong. Remember: this is not about pushing down those feelings or pretending they don’t exist. Rather, it’s about hearing them and acknowledging them, but not letting them determine what we do next.
Take a few moments and ask yourself: In an ideal world, how would you feel about your creative work? Would you like to feel relaxed? Playful? Skilled? Accomplished?
Now imagine you are someone who feels that way about their creative work? How does that person show up? What kinds of thoughts does that person have about their work? About themselves? How do they deal with challenges? What advice would they have for you in this moment? How would they tackle the situation you’re in right now? What would their next choice be? What would be the very next step they would take?
And go do that. Take one step closer to being that person today and see what happens.
Photo by Lubomirkin on Unsplash
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