Recap Creatives Crushing Resistance
“The amateur believes he must first overcome his fear; then he can do his work. The professional knows that fear can never be overcome. He knows there is no such thing as a fearless warrior or a dread-free artist.” Steven Pressfield
Speakers:
- Ehlie Luna [EL]
- Erick Sasso [Sasso]
- Michela Wariebi [MW]
- REO [Reo]
Book Mentioned:
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
What helped you name resistance in your creative life?
Sasso: When we’re done with this conversation check out The War of Art. The book’s chapters are really short and it's very readable. Each chapter gives a different vibe for each day. The concept for resistance is the main theme of the book. We must recognize what’s around us, what we create, what others create for us, and what we notice. For me, I've created a lot of stuff in my life that’s affected me personally and in my business. In addition, I would say to myself that those barriers were more of a resistance than those things actually being there. When I stopped saying that to myself, I found that it's not hard to figure things out, you just have to take a different route. Not everyone has the stable and picture perfect home, but the excuses we make are the actual blocks of our creativity. Meditating also helped me unblock.
REO: For me, that [The War of Art] book was really special. There were some amazing ideas in it. Something that grabbed me was that showing up everyday is saying to these great ideas that you are worthy of finishing a craft or project. What I've started doing is making a piece of art everyday, which is what’s stated in the book.
Just sitting down and showing up.
I’ve been able to come up with things I never would have made if I hadn't been “forced” to sit down and fight those excuses. Now I'm holding myself accountable everyday. I post my progress online and people are actually tuning in and getting excited about what I'm doing next. Now, it's about momentum, the opposite of resistance.
MW: Just being able to sit down and create resonates with me. I get momentum against the resistance when I am able to. My imposter syndrome also definitely paralyzes me. I forget that I am naturally a maker and a creator. After I push past these contrary thoughts that appear in my mind, I realize that I never think about it that way. Sometimes it feels like I'm throwing a piece of sand on the beach. It’s a lot of self talk and my own mental gymnastics. I’ve never thought about it correlating to maybe an ADHD kind of thing or having a more anxious personality. It reminds me of a time when I was fully immersed in my craft.
EL: Even the people whom we look up to deal with resistance. By identifying the resistance, we’re able to approach it from a more clinical place and are able to be more methodical.
There seems to be a misconception that creatives who are productive and seem to have it all together don’t deal with this kind of resistance- would love for you to speak to that.
Sasso: People always think I have all of my life perfectly put together. The highest turning points of my career also happens at some of the worst times within my personal life. I wasn't even able to use those hard times as a source of inspiration, THAT’S how bad it was. I was in a terrible relationship, and I was making a lot of money...but I wasn’t collaborating with the people I really wanted to. People don't realize that some of the work you put out, you are not always typically proud of or you were expecting it to come out a different way. Resistance on the life side of things, just as much as it is on the art side of things.
REO: One angle that people don't talk about is- I actually like resistance. But, that can be crutch too. Here’s a prime example: Kanye West. He wanted to be a producer and everyone said “no”. Then after he becomes a producer, he wants to be a rapper that wears pink polos- everyone says “no”. With everything that he wanted to do, he met with resistance.
But after accomplishing everything he sought out to do, he had nothing else to beat, he no longer had the resistance.
I like being the underdog in the music industry. After hearing so many “no’s”, it takes a special type of person to overcome them. But you need to develop a radar to understand that there are moments that you do not need to beat that resistance to deem yourself worthy. Which is often done by accomplishing the very thing to spite someone else. I decided to focus more on what I want to do rather than how I can next infiltrate a space.
SASSO: Things changed when I decided to say “no” more. It became more helpful to me because it carved out for more special projects that I actually wanted to do. I've had opportunities pass by my desk so many times, because I was too occupied with the first projects that came my way. Being in charge of saying “no” for yourself is hard to do, but it’s easier when you treat the words as a complete sentence. For example, I don't negotiate on rates anymore. I ask “Yes or no?” No? I say, “Cool, catch me next time” And then I’m done.
MW: I see being able to be specific in what you desire and what you want to accomplish as some form of manifestation as well. With these affirmations, you will find more things you are seeking, are also seeking you.
EL: It’s hard to start your journey with saying “no”. You have to pay bills and you have to do what you gotta do. BUT, when you are evolving and growing as a professional, you have to start defining your own terms or the industry will define them for you.
Guest (Tiff): Resistance is kind of a form of motivation. And that’s a thing that ran me in most of my life. I really wanted to know how I could break down doors. I focused too much on wanting to prove people wrong. But I also had to switch my views on resistance when it came to living with Type 2 diabetes. I also shifted to having grace with myself and understanding that these actions are results of past trauma that does not have to define me. I am using it as a tool rather than my identity.
Guest(Coco): This life is not for everyone and it’s filled with so many peaks and valleys. I personally don't look at life in a traditional sense. I got lucky in perfecting my craft and got far by networking. I used the money I got from odd jobs to save up and work on developing my craft. It took me a while to not take people’s opinions to heart, as I’m super sensitive about those kinds of negative opinions. I had to have tunnel vision and completely ignore the critics. By pushing myself, I was able to fully immerse myself in my craft.
Guest (Zane): I am a self taught producer for beauty focused content. I’ve had to hone in on my skills, while figuring out what works and doesn't work by using my intuition. During quarantine, I decided to just start producing content. I had to reinforce that behavior and habits to what I was committing my life to. Us, as creatives, we get so tied up in numbers and analytics that it takes the joy out of putting out awesome content.
Resistance can come off logical and limits your own belief of your skills
Book Mentioned: Atomic Habits by James Clear
Guest (Aseem): Even on Instagram, I don't have a huge following, but I recently decided that instead of focusing on what audience I would like to have, I decided to just do reels featuring my mom. I see her as the funniest person in the world and decided to find a way to deliver that content in a digestible way, to my American friends through short sketches.
As a brown man in Hollywood, I hit a point in my career when I felt like this wasn't right. If you’re not comfortable filling a stereotypical role, you have to have a system for yourself, outlining the time frames of what areas you will focus on and build up your craft. It’s a misconception that it’s impossible to find the capital needed to fund an indie film, but it’s very doable. You might or might not have success, but you rinse and repeat and do you do the process again.
EL: Now that we’ve named it and talked about different ways resistance sneaks into our lives, I’d love it if we can talk about how that relationship to it has evolved and what we’re doing differently now.
What are some ways to combat resistance? What systems do you have in place to deal with it?
Guest (Jared): I would consider another side of this. We have to consider why we do certain things. With COVID, I find myself not being focused on certain things. The resistance is so strong in the social world, it’s convincing me that I can't do it. So, I’m swimming with the wave, and not finding the energy to actually do my art. So I’ve shifted to figuring out how I can let resistance pull me into a different area that I might not have explored on my own.
Sasso: I found myself fighting resistance as hard as I could. Going with the flow is key. Organize the chaos and create big buckets of time and space so you can take hours to create. Even if you’ve accomplished one little thing, at least you’ve started the work.
Guest (Pardeem): In terms of what I do, I work in Sports Entertainment Marketing and I invest in buildings or real estate. With building, you don't set out to build the wall first, you start by breaking things down to its simplest form. So that’s what I do with fear. I try to remove the complexity of projects to make things as simple as I can endure. Consistency and discipline are also important, but these look different for different people. How you approach one thing can be an indicator of how you approach everything. The small consistencies build up to a greater habit. If you don't apply these disciplines to your life every day, they don’t really work.
EL: There’s a balance, almost a dance, with discipline. We have to be able to go with the flow, but also be able to call ourselves out when we’re not doing the things our heart truly desires, the things we feel we’re here to do.
REO: By focusing on problem solving rather than wallowing in issues beyond your control, wondering why it’s happening, you can take it as a lesson and something to learn from.
Guest (Chris): What I think is good about getting to a place where you run into the same problems is that you can then determine how to create a strategy to solve that problem.
I was reading this article on how Toyota manufactures their cars, and found something interesting: the company consistently tries to break their process down at all times, rather than residing in complacency. Essentially, they view whatever flaws or mistakes that occur as lessons to improve upon. They call it “revealing the weaknesses”. Getting over resistance is about changing your relationship with pain.
MW: Yes! The power of shifting your perspective to solution oriented can change the quality of your life.
EL: We have to find a way to pursue the discomfort we’re avoiding. Figure out the kinks along the way.
Guest(Molly): Sometimes we can be too structured. I had to learn how to unstructure everything to be able to make a mess. Resistance can lead up to release. I get to a point when I break down and give up and realize I have little control. By being childlike and indulging in play, I was able to discover a way to draw abstract art. I think this is just as important as having structure.
Guest(Chris): Handling resistance, it helps you train against the unexpected.
Guest (Thaiara): One thing that drives me is moving and being creative and doing something for myself. I've been working on this hand drawn music video, and felt that I couldn't do anything until I finished this video. I stopped dancing and became more shy. I gave myself this obligation that I have to finish the video in order to reward myself with other things I love to do.
People talk about the fear of failure, but not the pressure of success. Once you get there, you have to keep up and you are your own competition. It’s a balance of giving yourself a break and also disciplining yourself.
Guest (Micheal): I created a startup to address this issue. When I got diagnosed with ADHD, I was able to understand a lot of things that were going on. I became a productivity addict and focused on researching the things I wanted to do rather than actually doing it. The problem is that structure does not work alone. We have no context with how to visualize your progress. You also need to have community and meaningful relationships.
Guest (Rob): If you don’t have the energy to create or produce, be alert enough to self nourish and replenish ourselves. Creating is like exhaling, and you need to inhale as well.
Guest (Jason): I’ve always been a doer. I Feel like I always need to be doing something to feel valued and worthy. With any resistance or procrastination, what game are we winning at? Facing resistance was about overcoming the fear of not being good enough. What is the story around you creating things that you are not creating?
Guest (Merima): Perfectionism holds me back from doing things that I really wanna do. How do you deal with things that you create that you don't like?
REO: I was feeling burdened to create something perfect every day. And asked myself to make something ugly on purpose to lean into the fear that creating something ugly would not be deemed ‘worthy’.
Guest (Jason): Sometimes our structure and support can help others push past their resistance. Having someone that can meet you where you are to hold you accountable.
Guest (Omari): Art is an expression of who you are in the moment and you can definitely overthink it. I’ve been battling that resistance. Sometimes I like to change my environment, going into nature helps.
EL: Environment is key and definitely can help combat resistance since so much of what we do is a response to cues from our environment. James Clear talks about this in Atomic Habits.
Guest (Patrick): The resistance is so much change at once. What are your creative outlets for when you want to create and complete something in the moment but are not able to?
Guest (Thaiara): For me, it’s cooking. Completing something in a different way redefines what art is.
Guest( Coco): What has helped me over quarantine, was to not take myself too seriously. Once you reach a part of success, there’s pressure to keep momentum going, and this has basically stifled my creativity. Now I'm creating for myself instead of what I think others want to see.
Sasso: When you focus too much on chasing a brand and riding a wave, you lose focus on developing your own, your art, your craft, etc. It can also take you further away from your “in your heart” dreams.
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Thank you Saralie for taking notes
I hope this conversation inspired you to create today.