016: You are not your tools

You are not your tools. Your tools are not a pre-requisite for having good ideas. You tools are not your thoughts. You can start a new creative project without the precise paints you need and you can develop your ideas in a less than perfect environment.

Episode transcript:

Good morning, Daily Peppers, and today I want to start by sharing a pretty embarrassing story. So, for the past two months, I've been waiting for my favorite brand of journal to come back in stock. Actually, scrap that. I've been waiting for my preferred colour of journals to come back into stock. See, in the middle of last year, I decided, inspired by Austin Kleon's notebook habits and his massive stacks of notebooks, I wanted the same. I wanted a regular journaling habit. I wanted to actually fill notebooks instead of merely feeling intimidated by them or, or starting them and inevitably putting them down a couple of weeks later. I deliberately chose quite a plain journal and a boring color because I know myself well enough to know that the prettier the notebook, the less likely I am to write on it.

These journals are lovely in terms of paper quality and having the kind of binding that means it lies flat on the page. And I was just in love with it. So after I got the journal, I finished it in about three months. And much more important than the amount of pages I filled is the amount of clarity, ideas and just comfort that journaling brought me. I found myself journaling before bed, going to coffee shops and working through a lot of stuff that was holding me back. And it just became something that went in my bag everywhere with me. When I ran out late last year, I found the company didn't have the exact same one in stock. Something about a problem with supplies.

Now, I would love to be able to tell you that I just chose another one and continued in the same vein, that I continued journaling and still getting a lot of clarity and comfort from it. But we both know I'd be lying. The truth is, and the. Well, I should say the embarrassing truth is I've been waiting for the notebook to come back in stock to keep journaling. And the deeper truth is I've deprived myself of the clarity, the comfort and the ideas because of something seemingly so superficial. And the irony, of course, is journaling is literally about being uncensored and being free to say what you need to. It's the exact opposite of being curated and striving for perfection. So the irony is not lost on me.

But why am I telling you this story all about a journal? I'm telling it because it goes to show the ridiculous bullshit stories we tell ourselves about creativity and because I know I'm not alone in this. And as creative people, we can all fall into this habit. Over the last couple of months, I've been binge listening to the Shaun Wears podcast. It's all creativity and business. I really recommend it and I've put a link in the show notes so during one episode about the importance of writing and choosing your tools, Ben shared that to get over his similar problem, his wife made him a leather cover for regular composition notebooks so he'd never have an excuse not to write. Which in my book pun completely intended is genius. As creative women, there's a lot of talk about self sabotage and setting yourself up for failure, but I want to flip the script. How can you set yourself up for success? What would be your equivalent to Ben's homemade composition book cover? And what is the relationship with the tools you use? Really telling yourself about creativity I know for me, I'm buying into the idea that I had to have the exact right notebook.

I was telling myself that without it I didn't have anything to say, or at least anything worth recording, and that the tools I use mean more than the things inside my head. In fact, I did have perfectly lovely notebooks I could use, and over the last couple of weeks I've just picked one and started using it. Albeit not to the same extent though. So for now, just do whatever you need to to get out of your own way. Find an okayish alternative and just start. I don't believe in settling in our lives as a whole, but when it comes to the choice between creating or not, I believe in settling on your creative tools 100% like we were talking about on Monday. You know you best. You know what you actually need.

And here is the ultimate truth. You are not your tools. Your tools are not a prerequisite for having good ideas. Your tools are not your thoughts. You can start a new creative project without the precise paints you need. You can start a journal habit without the perfect notebook. And you better believe I'm taking notes on that. Again, pun intended.

And you can develop your ideas in a less than perfect environment. The way you tell yourself a better story about your relationship with creativity is through your actions. And actions always start by doing. And if you need something to do right now, this is my cheeky request. Go give The Daily Pep a review or rating in Apple Podcasts or whatever you use to listen to. Podcasts, ratings and reviews help more women who are looking for a podcast just like this find it. So have a great day Daily Peppers and here's to taking action.

Episode transcript automatically produced by Castmagic.io

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A short, snappy and sassy daily podcast to keep your internal - and external - dreamshitters at bay!

The Daily Pep! is the rebel-rousing, daily podcast for couragemakers, creative, multi-passionate and unconventional women. If you’re surrounded by people who don’t get who you are or what you do, if you want reminders you’re on the right path (no matter how scary it feels), or you’re sick of being your very own dreamshitter, this is the podcast for you.

Every weekday, your host - writer, coach and professional rebel-rouser - Meg Kissack helps you build a creative and wholehearted life, one day at a time. Through short and snappy insights, reminders and stories, The Daily Pep! is here to remind you you’re not alone, and that everything changes when you believe you matter. Each episode is short and snappy, designed to fit in with (or help you start) your habits and routines

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