This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.
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Do you feel like you haven’t reached your artistic potential but something’s holding you back? Or, are you afraid that your art is as good as it’s ever going to be?
Julia Cameron explains that many people struggle to maximize their creativity and reach their artistic potential because they engage in forms of negativity that block their connection to the creative force. She shares several practical tips to remove these mental blocks.
Keep reading for Cameron’s advice on fostering an artist mindset.
The Artist Mindset
To maximize your connection to the creative force and achieve your artistic destiny, you must remove whatever is standing in the way (negative people, self-doubt, perfectionism, etc.) and foster an artist mindset of positivity, abundance, and faith instead. We’ll discuss Cameron’s advice for doing so.
(Shortform note: In The Power, Rhonda Byrne provides another compelling argument for fostering a positive mindset and overcoming forms of negativity. She explains that your mindset emits a certain frequency which attracts like frequencies back to you. So, while negative thoughts and feelings like self-doubt or perfectionism will attract negativity into your life, positive thoughts and feelings will attract positivity. According to Byrne, not only will thinking positive thoughts help you reach your creative pursuits, but it will also help you achieve your overall life goals. For example, she says that putting out positivity will make you more likely to get that new car you want.)
Step #1: Foster a Sense of Positive Belief
Cameron argues that belief is a cornerstone in maximizing your creative potential and achieving your artistic destiny. Belief encompasses a belief in your abilities and potential as well as a conviction that you’re deserving of your dreams and desires, the universe is conspiring in your favor, and the universe will provide what you need when you need it.
According to Cameron, fostering this sense of belief is important for a few reasons. First, belief deepens your connection to the creative force, which naturally increases your creativity. Second, belief gives you the confidence to take strides toward your goals. And finally—because taking strides toward your goals will result in synchronicities—the universe will reflect your efforts by providing opportunities that propel you toward your artistic destiny.
Cameron gives a few tips to foster belief.
Tip #1: Trust the Process
Cameron explains that impatience and fear of uncertainty often lead people to prematurely pursue half-baked ideas or half-hearted projects. She elaborates that truly great ideas take time to gestate—if you force them into fruition prematurely, you’ll sabotage their potential. As such, you must trust yourself and the universe—when it’s time to execute on an idea, you’ll know. Take things step by step and follow your intuition.
Tip #2: Embrace and Detach
Cameron explains that elements like money and luck come and go. Attachment to these things leads to dependence and diminishes your sense of belief. Instead, embrace life’s ebbs and flows—be grateful for gains and resilient to losses, and trust that you’ll receive what’s needed when necessary. Don’t make decisions solely based on gaining things like wealth or recognition. Instead, trust your intuition and prioritize personal happiness—for example, accept a lower-paying job or wear an “ugly sweater,” irrespective of others’ perceptions, because they bring you joy.
Tip #3: Nourish Yourself
Cameron explains that self-care is crucial for maintaining a positive mindset, which by default increases your sense of belief. If you feel emotionally neglected, restricted, or ill, or if you aren’t taking care of your physical health, you’ll struggle to maintain a positive outlook. As such, Cameron emphasizes the importance of nourishing yourself.
Eat well, and take care of your body, Cameron advises. Listen to your emotions and release them—for example, if you’re sad about a missed opportunity, allow yourself to be sad, forgive yourself, and move on. Treat rather than restrict yourself—buy the candle you’ve been eyeing or have a piece of cake once in a while.
Step #2: Overcome Negative Thoughts and Behaviors
The second step in fostering an artist’s mindset is overcoming negative thoughts and behaviors that block your connection to the creative force. Cameron discusses three major blocks that prevent people from reaching their artistic destiny: perfectionism, limiting beliefs, and addictions. Let’s talk about these blocks and how to overcome them.
Block #1: Perfectionism
Cameron explains that many artists hold themselves back due to their obsession with perfection. Perfectionism blocks people from achieving their artistic destiny, first and foremost, because art is subjective—“perfect” art simply doesn’t exist. As such, striving for perfection will simply cause you to hyper fixate on unimportant details and prevent you from finishing projects. Further, the fear of failing to achieve perfection prevents many artists from even taking a first step toward their goals.
Cameron makes two recommendations for overcoming perfectionism. First, rather than striving for perfection, identify and strive for “good enough.” Second, allow yourself to create bad art. Cameron elaborates that no artist creates the ideal final product on their first try—before you create good art, you have to be willing to create bad art.
Block #2: Limiting Beliefs
Cameron says many artists block themselves with limiting beliefs—for example, they believe they’re not good enough or are too old, or they focus on regrets or future uncertainties. Whenever you find an excuse or reason for not taking action to achieve your artistic destiny, you’re engaging in some form of limiting belief. To help you overcome this block, Cameron makes a few recommendations.
First, Cameron advises that you ground yourself—pay attention to the beauty of your surroundings, the present moment, and what you can be grateful for. Grounding yourself will help you avoid giving attention to thoughts about the past or future that may discourage you from taking positive action.
Second, writes Cameron, seek out information that disproves your limiting belief. For example, if you think only rich people can produce the type of art you want to focus on, look up stories about successful artists who struggled financially.
Finally, Cameron recommends using positive affirmations to override your limiting beliefs. To do so, notice when a limiting belief crops up, create an opposing positive affirmation, and write it down 10 times in a row. For example, if you want to start a mural but notice your mind telling you “you’ll never finish, you’re not dedicated enough,” form a positive affirmation like “I’m a passionate artist, and I’m dedicated to completing a mural that will inspire others.”
Block #3: Addiction
Cameron explains that many people become blocked by addictions that comfort them—the most common ones being substances (drugs, alcohol, and food) and work. When you notice the urge to comfort yourself with a substance, Cameron says to resist and then let yourself feel the anxiety that ensues. Then, get excited. Anxiety is the by-product of resistance, so congratulate yourself for resisting and making progress.
Cameron says that, if you find that your self-worth is connected to the time you spend working or that work prevents you from spending time doing things that make you happy, you’re likely addicted to overwork. To overcome this, pay attention to how many hours you spend working and create stricter end times for your work day. This creates more time for enjoyment—whether that be spending time with friends or simply relaxing at home.
Step #3: Surround Yourself With the Right People
Finally, Cameron explains that the people you surround yourself with have a major impact on your ability to connect to the creative force. Seek out positive people who help foster your artist’s mindset and strengthen your connection to creativity.
Equally as important, Cameron says to distance yourself from negative people who encourage limiting beliefs that block creativity: people who provide you with useless criticism, doubt you, are experiencing creative blocks themselves, are hypocrites, create chaos, and encourage or revel in drama.
| When Avoiding Negative People Isn’t an Option It’s true that you must manage your social networks—you become like those you spend the most time with. However, it’s not always possible to distance yourself from negative people in your life—especially if they’re bosses, coworkers, or family members. In these situations, you must learn how to be around them without letting their negativity impact you. Experts provide a few recommendations to help you manage in these situations. These recommendations include working on your self-confidence—the more secure you are in yourself, the less others can impact you. You should also avoid contemplating a negative person’s words and actions. Thinking about why they said or did something negative will only waste your time and bring down your mood. Further, set boundaries and politely tell people when they cross them. For example, if someone gives you unsolicited, purely negative criticism, explain your boundary: “I appreciate your feedback, but the criticism you gave me is not constructive. If you want to help, please ask me if I’m looking for advice and express your feedback in a way that provides solutions rather than only critiques.” |
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Here's what you'll find in our full The Artist's Way summary:
- How you can overcome obstacles and blocks to reach your creative potential
- An overview of Julia Cameron's 12-week program on accessing the creative force
- Why many artists fall into addictions and how to resist them
