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January 25 - January 28, 2018
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Feed Your Subconscious Before I go to bed, I read a section of what I worked on that day. I hold this thought in my mind for a few seconds before going to sleep. I do this because keeping an idea in my mind passes it over to my subconscious, which will continue to work on the idea while I sleep.
Bhagavad-Gita tells us, “You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction.”
Matisse found a joie de vivre in his art that wasn’t possible anywhere else, and he famously said, “Work cures everything.”
map out the themes of your life and work down from there. Typically, these include relationships, career, health, finances, education, family and religion.
Next, consider each of roles you play in your life. These may include being a spouse, parent, employer/employee, student, brother/sister and so on.
ask yourself searing questions about the themes of your life
When am I at my best/worst as parent/employer/employee/spouse/artist etc.? Where do my natural talents lie? What’s important to me in my work/home life? What energises me and what makes me feel apathetic?
What is my passion? Who inspires me in my work, relationships, etc.? Which role models can I emulate? What values guide my work/my studies/my relationships?
Are there core values or principles I am not prepared to violate (these may include professio...
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How do these values relate to my day-to-day life? What mistakes have I made in my life so far, and ho...
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Gather your information into a single document or source. Then,
Pay attention to what’s driving you. Decide what you want to achieve because, as the Stoic philosopher Lucius Seneca writes, “When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”
When you see a divide, bridge it.
E.L. Doctorow (1931-2015). He once said: Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
John and asked him, “What would you do?” Now, his manifesto guides me. To write well, to write passionately, to be less inhibited, to be warmer, to be more self-critical, to recognise the power of as well as the force of lust, to write, to love.
Write down a hit list of people you would like to become your creative mentor. Remember, it doesn’t matter if they are alive, dead, accessible or inaccessible. The next time you face a creative challenge, visualise your mentor and ask them, what would you do? Better yet, ask them.
“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” – Haruki Murakami
Your pursuit of physical and mental strength and endurance should support your creative work, not the other way around.
an individual could only be happy if they can express themselves and achieve their potential: all things I wasn’t doing.
Work on different things at the same time,
Start a side-project today and give yourself permission to fail. Is your main gig turning your hair grey? Take out an old idea, dust it off and play with it a while.
If you’re working on a novel and you’re afraid of what will happen when you achieve a breakthrough, ask yourself “How would a great novelist and storyteller write this?”
Be bold with your answers. Push past that place of discomfort and fear until you reach a place where your success is inevitable.
Work on your idea for just ten minutes today, fifteen minutes tomorrow and twenty the day after that. Through the power of small daily wins, you can accomplish more on the blank page or virgin canvas.