Motivation. Art. Fight.

Winning the Inner Creative Battle

From where, does our best stuff come? Steve traces Resistance down its evolutionary roots to the genes. I agree. The cause is genetic. That negative force, that dark antagonism to creativity, is embedded deep in our humanity. He then looks for the cause of Inspiration not in human nature, but on a “higher realm.”. Then with a poetic fire he lays out his belief in muses and angels. The ultimate source of creativity, he argues, is divine. It’s called talent: the innate power to discover the hidden connection between two things—images, ideas, words —that no one else has ever seen before, link them, and create for the world a third, utterly unique work. Like our IQ, talent is a gift from our ancestors. If we’re lucky, we inherit it. In the fortunate talented few, the dark dimension of their natures will first resist the labor that creativity demands, but once they commit to the task, their talented side stirs to action and rewards them with astonishing feats. These flashes of creative genius seem to arrive from out of the blue for the obvious reason: They come from the unconscious mind.

This book inspired me a lot so I made a list of the best practices - for me or anyone who desires to use it.

#0 Secret

“There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write. What’s keeping us from sitting down is Resistance.”

#1: When You Work — Work

“It’s about ten-thirty now. I sit down and plunge in. When I start making typos, I know I’m getting tired. That’s four hours or so. I’ve hit the point of diminishing returns. I wrap for the day . . . I power down. It’s three, three-thirty. The office is closed. How many pages have I produced? I don’t care. Are they any good? I don’t even think about it. All that matters is that I’ve put in my time and hit the wall with all I’ve got. All that counts is, for this day, for this session, I have overcome Resistance.“

Just work with all your might and then be done.

#2: Turn Pro and Don’t Look Back

“Someone once asked Somerset Maugham if he wrote on a schedule or only when struck by inspiration. ‘I write only when inspiration strikes,’ he replied. ‘Fortunately it strikes every morning at nine o’clock sharp.’ That’s a pro.”

There is an immense power in making a decision to become a professional in whatever you do. Steven argues that it’s one of the most important steps in overcoming resistance. I agree.

#3: Change Happens NOW

“The most pernicious aspect of procrastination is that it can become a habit. We don’t put off our lives today; we put them off till our deathbed. Never forget: This very moment, we can change our lives. There never was a moment, and never will be, when we are without the power to alter our destiny.”

Thinking about putting off work on an important project? How about we wait until later to procrastinate and for now, we’ll just do the work.

#4: Become Who You Already Are

“We’re not born with unlimited choices. We can’t be anything we want to be. We come into this world with a specific, personal destiny. We have a job to do, a calling to enact, a self to become. We are who we are from the cradle, and we’re stuck with it. Our job in this lifetime is not to shape ourselves into some ideal we imagine we ought to be, but to find out who we already are and become it.”

Living true to yourself is of vital importance. How can we reach our highest potential if we spend our days trying to please others by becoming something we’re not? As Steven points out, Resistance comes in many forms, one of which is deception of our own identity. We have to know who we are and become the highest and best version of that person as fast as we can. There really is no other way to live.

So stop reading this. And just start!