Around 3 pm every day, my resolve starts to fade. Focus and motivation evaporate and the cloying self-doubt begins to creep in. But I’m so sucked into it, I don’t notice until it seems too late. I get so far into my head that it can feel like I can’t climb back out.
The creative and single life are each lonely even at the best of times. Add a quarantine on top of that and it’s straight up isolating. If the pressure to self-motivate and regulate is getting to you, take a moment to stop, stand up, stretch, and breathe. Take one of these reminders and use it to focus your restless thoughts. If you choose a scripture reference, try using it as a breathe prayer. Pray the first half of the verse on your inhale, and the second half on your exhale.
- “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…” -Zechariah 4:10, NLT
- “There is nothing that you are presently doing that you did not have to learn.” –Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr Stewart Townsend
- “And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest'” -Exodus 33:14, ESV
- “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” -Thomas A. Edison
- “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.'” -Isaiah 30:21, NIV
- “B minus work can change people’s lives. Work you don’t produce at all does nothing in the world.” Brooke Castillo
- “You are only free when you realize that you belong no place—you belong every place—no place at all. The price is high, the reward is great.” -Maya Angelou
- “There is no secret. There is no hack. There is only the work.” -MaryB. Safrit
- “If you’re holding out for universal popularity, I’m afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time.” –Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
- “There is no losing. There is only winning and learning.” -Doonam Kim