10 Lies Creatives Tell Themselves (And How to Reframe Them)
A personal journey through Sahil Bloom's framework
Hello! I'm Patrick, your guide to tech, craft, and personal growth. New here? Join our supportive creative community to fuel your journey!
Intro
Sahil Bloom's article "Dangerous Lies We Tell Ourselves" is a powerful tool for self-reflection. It reminds us that the struggles we face with these internal narratives are not unique. Many of us experience similar feelings, especially as creatives navigating the delicate balance between art and commerce.
Today, I want to examine these lies and share how I've reframed them in my own life. By doing so, I hope to help those of you who might be grappling with similar challenges.
Until next time,
Patrick
1. "When I get X, then I'll be happy"
Growing up in an environment that emphasized traditional benchmarks of success, I developed classic “striver syndrome” – a mentality that ties happiness to external achievements:
Get into an elite college
Choose a "respectable" major
Land a corporate job with brand recognition
Climb the career ladder
Achieve a six-figure salary
Buy a nice home
For creatives, this mindset can be particularly damaging. It often morphs into thoughts like, "If only X people like my work, then I'll be happy with it." But hinging your creative satisfaction on others' responses is a recipe for:
Perpetual dissatisfaction with your work
Reluctance to start new projects
Compromised output as you try to predict others' preferences instead of creating what truly resonates with you
Reframe
The key shift for me was redirecting my focus from outputs to inputs. I realized that my greatest happiness comes from the act of creation itself. It's not about the response to any particular piece, but the satisfaction of bringing ideas to life.
True happiness, I've found, lies in realizing my ideas – in the process of creation, not just the end result or its reception.
2. "This is just who I am"
Creative careers rarely follow a linear path. Throughout your working life, you'll likely need to reinvent yourself multiple times. This process can be challenging, but avoiding it can leave you stuck in an unfulfilling situation – a surefire recipe for misery.
Reframe
To overcome this fixed mindset, I've learned to practice conscious detachment and focus on growth. Here's my approach:
Detach from outdated ideals that no longer serve you.
Avoid basing your identity too heavily on factors outside your control.
Let go of past successes that don't align with your current goals and aspirations.
If you shaped yourself to get where you are now, you can reshape yourself to reach where you want to go next.
Your identity isn't fixed – it's a continual work in progress.
3. "I don't have time for X"
I've lost count of how many times I've told myself this lie. While occasionally true, it's more often an excuse – and deep down, I know it.
As a startup co-founder, countless demands vie for my attention. While it's impossible to do everything, I've noticed a tendency to use theoretical time constraints from one area of my life to conveniently block progress in others – especially in areas I know require significant effort but are crucial for growth.
Reframe
My perspective shifted when I realized that the pain of not starting was greater than the pain required to start. Now, I've expanded my thinking to consider longer time horizons. While I might not have enough time to do everything I want right now, there's plenty of time to dive deep if I think in terms of years or decades rather than days or weeks.
This reframe has taught me to recognize when "lack of time" is a genuine constraint versus an excuse. It's helped me acknowledge that important growth often requires significant effort, but that effort becomes more manageable when viewed over a longer timeframe.
Time may be a finite resource but how we perceive and use it is often more flexible than we initially believe. The key is to align our use of time with our true priorities.
4. "Someone will be there to save me"
This lie often manifests in thoughts like:
"It's not a designer's job to do X"
"As a developer, I shouldn’t have to do X"
It's a blend of "This is just who I am" and "I'm not capable of X." While sometimes valid, it's frequently an excuse to avoid challenging tasks or stepping outside our comfort zone.
Reframe
Dan Mall offers a simple yet powerful reframe: "Whoever wants it more does the work."
In my experience, whenever I've truly wanted something, I've had to take the lead. Expecting others to champion my cause has consistently led to disappointment.
If something matters to you, take ownership of it. Don't wait for a savior – be your own champion.
If you want it more, it's your responsibility to make it happen.
5. "I'm not capable of X"
While there are genuine limitations to our capabilities (my 5'10" frame and modest vertical leap have long since dashed my NBA dreams), more often than not, "I'm not capable" is a lie we tell ourselves. It's a limiting belief, not reality.
Reframe
My personal journey with this lie is particularly telling. As a liberal arts major, I once believed I couldn't "be technical." Then one day, I decided to challenge that belief. I started a daily practice of learning to code, persevered through the challenges, and eventually landed a job as an engineer on a great team at American Express.
This transformation didn't happen overnight, and the transition wasn't easy. But it taught me a valuable lesson: if I want something badly enough and give myself a long enough timeline, I'm almost always more capable than I initially imagined.
Question your assumptions about your capabilities. Start with small, consistent steps towards your goal, and be patient – significant changes take time.
Your current abilities don't define your potential.
6. "I know exactly what I'm doing"
While I'm not too guilty of this lie, I often find myself trapped by its opposite: "I have no idea what I'm doing."
Despite having deep expertise in my craft, I still sometimes block myself out of fear. That nagging voice whispers: "If I don't know exactly what I'm doing, why even bother? Everyone else seems to know so much more than me."
Reframe
The reframe here is simple yet profound: No one knows exactly what they're doing. We're all improvising, almost all of the time.
Here's how I've learned to deal with this:
Recognize the tendency to build idealized narratives around others' work while being overly critical of your own.
Embrace ambiguity and uncertainty as part of the creative process.
Trust in your ability to figure things out as you go along.
Remember: You'll never know exactly what you're doing or what's next. But if you trust yourself and start building your way forward, you'll always end up figuring it out.
7. "They just got lucky"
Ah, envy – that powerful force and "deadly sin." With social media, we're constantly bombarded by others' successes. We've designed the ultimate envy stimulation machine.
Even when you're putting in the work and feeling good about your progress, it's tempting to look at someone a few steps ahead and slip into envy and disappointment. But this isn't their fault. Despite how personal it feels, each of you is simply living your own independent life.
Reframe
In creative work, success often does come down to the hits. And while these hits might seem 100% spontaneous and lucky, they rarely are. There's usually a ton of unseen work behind the scenes – effort that was happening long before the idea ever came across your radar.
I've found two effective ways to reframe this mindset:
Focus on being prolific to create your own luck. The more you create, the more chances you have for a "hit."
Practice gratitude to offset the tendency towards envy. Appreciate your own progress and the unique journey you're on.
Remember, what looks like overnight success to you is often the result of years of unseen effort. By staying focused on your own work and cultivating gratitude, you can channel that energy into your own creative pursuits rather than getting caught up in comparisons.
8. "I'm just waiting for the perfect moment to do X"
Hello, fellow perfectionists. We often cling to the idea that there will be a moment when everything becomes clear. We imagine that one miraculous day, we'll suddenly have all the information and the perfect moment will arise.
But this idealized narrative only exists in our minds. The real world doesn't care about our concept of "perfect" and moves at its own pace. You have to find where the energy is flowing and ride that wave.
Reframe
As someone who defaults to analysis paralysis, my big shift came from learning about the difference between acting as a 'Maximizer' versus a 'Satisficer'.
I had to accept that I would never have perfect information. Sometimes, I would need to make a judgment call and live with the results. I could always adjust after making a decision, but I couldn't get that chance by postponing indefinitely.
The reframe here is about embracing imperfection and taking action:
Recognize that there's no such thing as a perfect moment.
Make decisions with the information you have, knowing you can adjust later.
Start before you feel ready – action often provides more clarity than contemplation.
Remember, done is better than perfect. Make a decision, learn from it, and move forward. The "perfect moment" is now, because now is when you can actually take action.
9. "I'm too late to do X"
While I'm fortunate to not feel this way often, I've seen many friends fall deep into this rabbit hole.
Being more than a decade into a career can feel substantial. It's easy to fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy: "I've already put so much effort into this, I can't walk away now!" But why should the past version of yourself dictate what the current version should do? They didn't know what you know now.
Reframe
When it comes to learning creative skills, it's never too late. The key is to:
Be willing to make time for practice.
Accept that you're going to struggle for a while as your skills develop.
Unlike my earlier NBA example where biology plays a limiting role, creative skills are much more forgiving. Your brain remains plastic and capable of learning throughout your life.
The reframe here is about shifting your perspective:
Instead of seeing your past experience as a barrier, view it as a unique advantage. Your life experience gives you a rich well of inspiration to draw from.
Rather than focusing on lost time, concentrate on the exciting journey ahead. Every day you start is a day earlier than if you wait until tomorrow.
Remember that many successful creatives started their most impactful work later in life. It's never too late to create something meaningful.
By embracing this mindset, you open yourself up to new possibilities and continued growth, regardless of your age or career stage.
10. "I'll do X later"
I'm a guilty-as-charged procrastinator. It's been a habit since my school days and continues to this day. The difference now is that I acknowledge and accept this about myself, and I've learned to plan accordingly.
Reframe
The key to reframing this lie is to realize that your procrastinator self is a stubborn adversary, and you need to outsmart it. Here's how I've learned to do that:
Recognize your patterns: I know I need to feel some heat from a deadline to perform at my best. As much as I wish it weren't true, it is.
Create artificial pressure: Since I know I work well under pressure, I create it for myself. This often means setting arbitrary time constraints or deadlines.
Establish accountability systems: For example, in my startup, my business partner and I committed to sending a monthly business update email to a select group of collaborators, advisors, and potential investors. This simple ritual:
Holds us accountable
Forces us to prepare
Demands that we drive progress we can report in the next edition
Start small: Be relentless in scoping down tasks. If a task seems overwhelming, break it down into smaller pieces. Getting started is often the hardest part.
While I haven’t vanquished my procrastination, I’ve gotten much better. The key is to work with your tendencies, not against them. By understanding your patterns and creating systems to counteract them, you can turn "I'll do X later" into "I'm doing X now."
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