Creators: Remember This Quote When You Just Can’t Start
For creators, sometimes the hardest thing is just to start.
We plan, we prepare, we tidy up. Maybe I need to build a better chapter template for my book. Maybe I need to do more research. Maybe I need to go to the store to get different paints. Maybe I should search for a new sonic plugin that will really make this track sound great. I think if I could just tweak my desk setup, I could really get some good work done. Maybe I should wash the walls of my house.
Anything to avoid the pain of starting.
Some planning can help you fly further when doing your creative deep work. But too often, planning can be an excuse. Planning and tweaking is tangible, tractable, satisfying—and deadly to your creative production.
You can spend a whole week of your life planning, only to look up and realize that you never started. Weeks turn into months, months to years.
What can we do when we are stuck in a spiral of never-ending planning? Step back and get perspective. We need someone to give us a push, to administer some tough love.
We need to remember the words of the philosopher Seneca, who wrote, “the fool is always getting ready to live.”
Or as Ryan Holiday has put it—“the fool is always getting ready to start.”
When looked at with the clear eyes of awareness, the foolishness of over-planning is unmasked.
So, open up that document and start writing from where you left off. Mix the paints you have and create something unexpected. Compose with the tools you have on hand. The limits will free your creativity.
So gather your materials. Set an objective. Drink a glass of water.
And just start.
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