When it comes to creativity, you are your own worst enemy.

I know this because I've been my own worst enemy before.

Here's the cool thing.

It's one of the simplest and most effective ways to get unstuck and start making the best work of your life is to let go of

the negative labels that you've attached to yourself over the years. Labels like, I'm not an artist,

or this is hard, or I'm so practical that I don't know how to stop with these negative labels.

Our brains are incredibly tuned

into labels. If you think about yourself in a certain way, your mind does its best to make sure

that you become that thing, that body, that soul, that actually becomes a well-worn groove in your psychology.

And by thinking about yourself in terms of these labels, you reinforce them.

Let's take Weird, this word, right?

So this word is often affixed to openly creative people or creative ideas. Right? In our society, weird, has a lot of negative

connotations. But what is it even in contrast to? Is it in contrast to normal? My God, what could be more

boring than normal? Who wants to be an extra in somebody else's movie? Who wants to be at the end of your life,

your damn life? Are you going to say, I wish I was more normal? No. Science says no,

people's experiences on their deathbed. But here's the other thing about normal. I actually

fell for that trap myself. I was a weird kid.

I had my own, like, magic show in second grade.

I was a break dancer in junior high.

And, you know, I performed stand-up comedy for my elementary and junior high classes.

Those are not normal for my town.

It's not normal in the environment that I grew up.

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