Have you ever received the opportunity of your
dreams and sabotaged it by not responding?
Maybe you got an email about a possible book
deal, or an invitation to play an incredible gig, or
an inquiry from a mega-client. The dream
invitation came – and to your own surprise, you
ignored it. Why do we behave in such a clearly
counter-productive manner?
I would argue that we often do this because
we’ve brought the wrong part of ourselves to the
table. As creatives governing our own careers, we
have to bring many different skillsets — many
different selves, even — to the diverse activities
we do on a daily basis. When we bring the wrong
self to the table, we can get paralyzed.
That’s what happened to me. After I’d been
blogging for a couple of years, literary agents
began contacting me to ask, “Was I interested in
a book project?” I certainly was.
We’d meet for tea, and they’d ask me a series of
questions: “Who is the target customer for this
book? How would you say you differ from say, a
Martha Beck, or a Deepak Chopra? Are you doing
any major corporate speaking?”
When we bring the wrong self to the table, we
can get paralyzed.
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but what happened
next was this: I ignored their follow-up emails. I’d
wake up in the middle of the night, heart
pounding, thinking “Seriously, what kind of writer
who wants to do a book doesn’t respond to a
literary agent’s enthusiastic note?” I wasn’t sure
why I was stuck.
Months later, I saw the problem: My inner artist
had gotten spooked. Thinking these meetings
were about my writing, I brought my writer-self,
my super-sensitive inner artist, to the meetings.
And guess what? My inner artist is terrified and
paralyzed by conversations about how to market
her work.
That’s when I realized that there were other
selves, other advocates, that I could bring to the
table.
There are three voices within every creator:
The Inner Artist
The Inner Editor
The Inner Agent
To have a successful career, we must all learn
how to deploy each of them at particular times,
and keep them from stepping on each other’s
toes.
I would argue that most of the problems in our
creative lives stem from bringing the wrong part
of ourselves to the task at hand. Most of us under-
utilize at least one of the three roles and over-use
one of the other roles. A thriving creative career
requires consciously shifting between the three
voices, utilizing each at the right time.
In the early stage of the creative process, we
need the inner artist. The artist’s domain is
drafting, receiving ideas and inspiration, fleshing
them out. The artist thrives in an atmosphere of
curiosity, safety, and play. She needs shelter from
others’ opinions and respite from even thinking
about what the judgments of others might be.
In the second stage of the creative process, the
inner editor leads. The editor’s domain is revising,
trimming, structuring. Whereas the artist must
forget about what other people might think, the
editor brings the audience back into the process,
ensuring that the work effectively communicates
the artist’s intent.
Then the inner agent takes the baton. The
agent’s domain is developing marketing
messages for the work, communicating about the
work to external stakeholders, and finding
distribution. The agent is thick-skinned, brave,
and wise about the market.
Most of the problems in our creative lives stem
from bringing the wrong part of ourselves to the
task at hand.
Of course, the process is not entirely linear. A late-
stage problem that requires a highly creative
solution might require the inner artist, for
example.
Each inner archetype has a wholly different way
of being. The artist explores what he doesn’t
know. The editor brings to bear what he does
know. The agent advocates for what he wants.
If the inner agent shows up in the early stage of
idea conception or fleshing out a first draft?
Disaster. The agent will impoverish the artist’s
ideas by worrying too early on about what will
sell. She’ll unknowingly push the work in a
conformist direction. She’ll mute the muse.
The inner editor can also disrupt the work of the
inner artist — evaluating the work or creating
structure prematurely.
Bring the sensitive inner artist into the agent’s
domain — into, for example, a business meeting
about how to market a piece of creative work?
She can become so turned off that she’ll run for
the hills, resulting in months of creative
stagnation.
To find more ease and productivity in your
creative process, I suggest taking these steps:
1. Take a look at what’s been happening in
your creative life by answering these
questions:
Which of these roles is my default/comfort zone?
When do I fall into this role even though it’s
really not the best fit for the task at hand?
Which role is underutilized? Which role or roles
do I avoid stepping into?
Where do I have “trust issues” between the
three roles? Does the inner artist trust the agent
to bring her work to market without selling out?
Does the inner agent think that the artist is
never going to produce anything with
commercial appeal? Notice what resentments,
conflicts or issues of trust are happening
between the three parts of you. Just observing
and naming the issues will reduce their
intensity.
2. Get to know your three inner creative
roles.
Write down a list of words or phrases you
associate with each. Give each one a theme song.
Identify a color that expresses the personality of
each one.
3. Next, look over your calendar for the
coming week.
Notice which part of you is best suited for the
various tasks, meetings, and work periods you
have ahead.
4. As you move through the week,
consciously shift into the appropriate mode
as you do the work.
Thinking of the color or song you identified can
help you quickly access that part of yourself.
Notice when your default role shows up where it’s
not helpful, and mindfully move into the mode
that’s best suited for the task.
–
What’s Your Creative Identity?
What have you learned about your different
internal personalities? Has your creative work
suffered because you brought the wrong self to
your creative work?
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