As creatives, we’ve all experienced creative blocks, misplaced passions, and a lack of career focus and clarity in some form or another. They can be roadblocks keeping us from producing our best work. The good news, though, is that a good deal of it is in your head. You have more agency over your self-sabotaging thoughts than you may think.
According to experimental psychologist and “mind hacking” expert Patrycia Slawuta, we can all take strategic steps to reprogram the matrix of influences at play in our subconscious.
To understand the way the human mind works, Slawuta says, consider the computer: “We are living code. When you look at the human brain, our ‘computing centers,’ so to speak, you see a lot of coding,” she says. from the four-letter DNA codes that comprise our genetic makeup, to the more nuanced, systematic modes of thinking and decision-making that have been shaped by a number of environmental factors.
Learn it, hack it, upgrade it—within reason
Any skill is learnable, hack-able, upgradable. We can learn anything, but not everything. The first step is to understand what you want, and why you don’t have it right now while also considering the benefits of not having a desired trait, “because there are always hidden costs and benefits.”
Boost your psyche’s immune system
Confidence is tightly linked with self-esteem, which is the immune system of the psyche. ur psyche’s immune system—your confidence— is weak, any little negative comment, criticism, or even something as insignificant as a Tweet will threaten to shake you to the core.
Tap into your own depths
Creative work is some of the hardest work, because you’re birthing something. You’re pulling something into existence from nothing, and that requires a great deal of effort and attention.
Practice doesn’t make perfect—and that’s okay
The most important skills of the 21st century will be adaptation, resilience, and re-skilling. and it’s a trio that leaves little room for precious perfectionism. Everything is practice, and if you see it as such, there’s really no fear of failure.