Resistance training
Yes, we love resistance training—but that’s not the resistance training we’re talking about today. We’re big fans of Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art. In it, Pressfield details his own epic and entertaining battles with the resistance to his own creative process. We find the book quite motivating in general, but over a recent coffee talk, we realized there weren’t really any concrete steps on how to overcome your own resistance. The basic message is that resistance is the enemy, and you need to sit down and get to work. It reminded us of many people’s inability to get started on a workout program or anything else they want to do for themselves. Saying, “Just do it,” is not enough. So, what would a “resistance” training program look like?
Set the bar low
Yes, here we go again. We’ve got to set the bar low. If we start biting off more than we can chew, the whole thing is not going to work. Take a look at your day—where could you insert 15-30 minutes of creative time? We seem to get more creative things done in the morning, when our minds are fresh—and research backs that up. Your brain is at its best in the morning. Let’s say you want to write poetry. Your “resistance training” would be to get up a half hour earlier every day and write poetry. No matter what--you get some lines down over a half hour period. If that’s too much, try 15 minutes—but you do it every day, no matter what. The training is in ignoring all the thoughts: “I’m tired,” “This is pointless,” “I’ve got other shit to do,” “I’m too old,” “I’ve got more serious things to worry about,” etc., etc., etc. If you live with a partner, get them in on it. Ask for their support so you can have this precious time to get creative.
Set the stage
Set the stage the night before morning “resistance training.” If you’re a musician, set everything up so just a flick of a switch will get you going. Don’t leave a guitar in its case, or recording equipment that needs wires patched all over the place. You want to hit the ground running. If you’re a writer, and all you use is a notebook and pen—set that out. Make an inviting, special spot for yourself.
All work is good work
Guard against making snap judgements about a session’s worth and throwing something away, or deleting something. This is part of “resistance training!” Resist the urge to judge your output harshly. Even if you think what you did really stinks—there may be even a tiny something in there you can use. Maybe you’ve recorded some music that you think really sucks. On another day, you may strip everything away except one track, and build something entirely new and awesome from there.
Get a “resistance training” buddy
Find a friend that also wants to get creative. Having built-in accountability will keep you going. We’re all used to disappointing ourselves—but we don’t want to disappoint a friend. We have found that working on the Coaching and Coffee Talks blog together has kept us unbelievably productive. We get things done in a way that would be impossible to keep up by ourselves. Sharing the creative process with another person is a great bonding experience—you inspire each other, you keep each other positive, and you want to entertain each other.
“Don’t die with your music still in you”
This quote from Dr. Wayne Dyer serves to inspire, but also warn us. We are here for a limited time. It’s time to get busy on that painting, on that book, on that song, on that needlepoint, on that dream catcher! And when it’s done—share it with the world. This can be a tough bump in the “resistance training” road—but it must be done. Artists should share what they’ve done with others. If it inspires one other person to create something themselves, then it is well worth the uncomfortability of putting yourself out there. Our suggestion is to just do it and move on. Create the next thing. As we’ve written about previously—add to your body of work. It’s a wonderful thing.
Until next time,
Scott and Lennart