On today’s show: creativity, fear, and procrastination.
I think we can all agree that fear is the biggest enemy to creativity. We’re born creative, but we learn to be afraid. After we’ve been hurt, wounded, scolded, rejected — we know learn what pain feels like and we become afraid. We don’t want to do something that could cause the pain again.
And we know that courage isn’t the absence of fear — it’s the ability to carry on even though we’re afraid. And the more we carry on in the midst of fear, the more courage we build up. Which is why, if fear is hindering us from creativity, the best way to do our best creative work is to show up every day. To build up the courage to be creative and to do meaningful work.
And if it’s important that we show up every day, it means procrastination is at direct odds with doing our best creative work.
* Procrastination robs us from gaining momentum in our projects.
* It lies to us, saying that we should work only when inspiration strikes.
* It has no intention of helping us hone our skills.
* It’s keeps us from doing our best creative work.
* It causes us to project a reputation of inconsistency, thus hindering our ability to build an audience.
If fear is what keeps us from doing work that matters, procrastination is what keeps us from reaching our potential.
Episode Links:
* [How to Overcome Procrastination](https://shawnblanc.net/2015/02/procrastination/)
* [The Fight Spot: My new weekly email newsletter](https://shawnblanc.net/newsletter/)
* [*The Power of a Focused Life*](http://shawnblanc.net/focus/)
* [Seth Godin: The Enemy of Creativity…](http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2015/02/the-enemy-of-creativity.html)
* Sponsor: [*Thou Shalt Hustle*](http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00SZDI876?tag=mikeschm-20): A practical guide to pushing past average & finding your purpose.
**[Download here.](http://traffic.libsyn.com/weeklybriefly/weekly_briefly-54.mp3)** (17:23)