Success with long-term planning naturally comes along with resistance in the form of impostor syndrome - a doubt in ones’ abilities to be creative, and to express those gifts through craft. This has caused one too many designers, artists and engineers to quit tasks, ideas or even projects. If not checked, this doubt of intellect, skills, or even past accomplishments can lead an unsuspecting creative into sabotaging something good.
Swans on lake Bodensee, Lindau, Germany, September 2021
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As a young up and coming designer I’ve experienced this paradox of quitting not because of anything external but by listening to negative emotions. Back when I would start working on an idea and midway through, suddenly lose my passion, drive and zeal to finish the project; without internalising it that a lot of patience is required to get anything worthwhile done. Staying invested in an idea is a skill of will and courage to not be your own worst enemy. There’s enough people trying to tell us what we can and can’t do to then turn on ourselves intentionally or otherwise.
The outcome of a growth mindset is commitment to long-term thinking, simple as it sounds it’s not the easiest in practice. A commitment to your process trying to make things happen with due diligence.
To deepen my connection and commitment to craft with each project what I decided to do - and keep doing is being more rigorous with research, and super fast iterations to keep enthusiasm on the up and not slip into habits that are counter productive to what’s in view.
The Quote God is in the details by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is a primer to spend more time trusting my approach and mindfully enjoying each phase of any project not just the pixel part but the back office stuff, the admin nitty gritty etc. Any task is only as hard or as easy as we make ourselves believe it to be.
The ‘Jobs to be Done’ (JTBD) framework, is one approach to capture the heart, the essence of any ongoing project, create relevant tasks from research to reveloping value. That way I’m free to get lost in the details, while keeping an eye on the big picture. Effectively zooming in and out without cognitive overload.
Avoiding the ‘Bottling it’ syndrome is a skill like any other that can be learnt. Success in Long term planning while loves steady consistent activity not sporadic action that might not sum up to it’s parts at the end of the day. Success doesn’t mean you need to great 100% of the time, no what it requires is planning to be 1% better as an outcome.
I have developed a (4) Four step playbook for use and to serve as a reminder, to cultivate tunnel vision for what’s important, admit the worst parts of myself and still push through to a desired outcome, which you can adapt in your approach too.
To overcome self-sabotage I;
1. Confront my worst fears.
When I was about 13 I had a lot of pet peeves, much of which I’ve only recently got rid of. I couldn’t stand the sound of someone else’s chewing, anytime that happened it would raise something from the inside and I’ll immediately want to shut it down one way or another. It was not until I learnt what the phenomena was - and that it had a name - Misophonia, and that it’s so acute that for some it ‘can be experienced so severely that it can affect relationships and prevent sufferers from engaging in social situations’ that it stopped bothering me; but it took a desire to confront it to scale the hill. All I had to do was a quick google search. Putting a name to what bothers you is a tiny things each one of us can do in attempting to overcome negative emotions.
2. Employ the pomodoro time keeper technique
Focus is what any one needs to see things through. In an ever distracting world, paying attention is to what matters becomes ever so important. I now use the pomodoro time management technique to reduce distractions to the minimal and perform perform a task and you too can. It’s simple, set a stopwatch for 25 minutes and put away all devices, bar what you need only and for that time do the best work possible and break for 5-15 mins to rest to then reconvene and focus again. The beauty of this toolbox technique is that it provides an environment for healthy limits. I’ve watched my productivity steady improve up to the right in a relatively short amount of time doing this. Not only is it a relief from time pressure it’s also serves as a log book by which to count towards productivity and the beauty is it can also be done in groups to great effect.
3. Trust iterative thinking
Giving up an idea half the time is uncalled for, sometimes what you need is what some would call ‘unreasonable’ time into getting to the why. The best way I know how to do this with iterative work, I give myself the space to make what I’m calling a ‘succinct draft’ where there’s no pressure to be perfect but to just capture what’s at had and iterate 3-4 times before settling. That way I’m expecting a bad first draft anyway and it frees my mind to wander and contemplate where the project is at and where we want to get to. This is an often undervalued part of the creative process by entry level professionals in all creative fields, granted it takes more effort but the more you do it the better you get at it.
4. Invest in things that don’t change
Everyone is a hero in their own story, and although we all admit the hero has periods of learning we often forget that those come from great love in doing what they know best while trusting the process. Anyone can have a face palm moment, but only the hero moves past it unto what’s next. Those who self-sabotage leave room for negative emotions to take centre stage and run the show. Don’t be like that reinforce what’s good, edit out the parts that don’t serve you long-term vision and don’t let yourself down even for a moment. I invest in re-iterating wholesome values and nothing else.
Be committed to making your own story a good one because no one else will do it for you. Make space to create what you believe the best of you deserves and by extension watch the lives of those around you transform in response.
Take care, until next time;
✌🏾 Silas.
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