How do you build confidence to overcome creative blocks?

Acknowledging and celebrating your creative successes, regardless of how small they may seem is the first step towards building your confidence, something that will continue to motivate you to push through creative blocks when they come. Also practice self-compassion. Understand that everyone experiences creative blocks, and it's a normal part of the process will help you come out of the block easily rather than fight with it.

Creative Blocks can be bothersome especially if you have a deadline to meet. There are multiple root causes. What I do to overcome that: 1) Guided Meditation: It really calms me down and helps me clear my head. This reduces anxiety and I am in a better thinking space. It's easier to work with a calmer mindset 2) Identify Your Triggers: What puts you back in the same spiral again? Try and distance yourself from your triggers till the time you find the right method of coping with them. Try and self-talk to find out why is this bothering you. Sometimes, writing your thoughts helps you reach the cause. 3) Don't self-sabotage: Keep telling yourself that creative blocks are natural and you will get around. It's just a matter of time.

A creative block is part of the process of walking that path, but it's a reality we'd rather not face. As creators who've experienced a state of flow now and then, we have unreasonable expectations that the flow state should last forever. It's the creator's version of happily ever after. We need to accept that it's unrealistic and compassionately see what we can learn from them instead of looking at blocks as our enemies. Every creative block reveals a hidden doubt or insecurity within us, and when we learn to face it, we shed one more layer of baggage within us. Journal the resistance, process it, and confront it instead of hiding away. It naturally dissolves and makes space for something even more profound.

Creative blocks happen to the best of us. It comes with the job. I have learned to accept that. Whenever I experience creative blocks, I see them as indications that my mind needs some time to do something different. So I spend more time pursuing my hobbies. Thankfully they are physically draining-running and playing soccer-so after each session, I get a good night's sleep. Having to rest recharges my mind and gets it revved to work again. Interestingly,I sometimes get inspiration for my tasks while engaging in my hobbies. So it is a win-win situation for me

I find taking breaks to be an awesome hack. The thing I believe that makes a difference in break time is that ability to switch your perspective and be more open to your environment. The creativity that can be unlocked by just noticing and listening and immersing yourself in other creative work is truly magical. Haven’t found a greater remedy to creative blocks.

Convincing yourself to take regular breaks is hard. Your mind is always telling you no because you will miss out on some important opportunities, your work will be hampered and you will not be considered a reliable resource. This year, for the 1st time ever, I travelled for 10 days without my laptop in Vietnam. It was one of the best decisions of my life. I couldn't peep at my work at all. It helped me to: 1) Organise my work schedule before and after the vacation. 2) Thinking outside work helps you expand your horizons. Your brain needs that to recreate magic. Once you're back you're not only refreshed but your creative soul is replenished as well. Not to forget exotic vacations are a huge motivator to make you work even harder.

Somethings that I do to get over my creative block is - (1) Bounce off ideas with my podcast co-host especially leaving a voice note. This helps me to hear my own thoughts which is important for my podcast production. (2) I also record my content in different tones and hear it back to see how it lands. (3) I do a context switch to some other activity and then get back to the work at hand.

This has happened to me on multiple occasions mostly when you have a big-ticket deadline to close. Here's what I do: 1) Guided Meditation: It really calms me down and helps me clear my head. This reduces anxiety and I am in a better thinking space. 2) Mood Boards & Drawing Boards: I take out my colour pens, aisle boards, and some creative prompts. It may or may not be connected to my deliverables. I start writing, doodling, drawing, and sometimes pasting things to ignite my creativity again. 3) Team Brainstorm Sessions: We work on our idea-generator exercises together and start bouncing off ideas. This always helps in re-booting my brain. 4) AI Tools: Giving all kinds of fun prompts to Chat GPT and Bing helps us to find a starting point.

Here are a few things I find helps me - 1. Switch up your environment - If you're working out of say your studio, step out and away - go to a cafe or a park or in nature. Go on a hike and allow your mind to think in a different space. Allow yourself to be inspired by a new place. 2. Creative Journaling - Write in your journal. This allows you to get perspective, doodle a bit, but also look back at your creative process. Maintain a regular journal of ideas, thoughts, inspiration. 3. Creative community - Are you part of a creative community where you can find answers or just have a conversation with someone who may have an alternate perspective. Having a community to tap into is immensely helpful.

I practice "detachment from attachment". The more glued we are towards the end result , the more blocks we will create for ourselves. At times, just taking action is good enough. One step at a time and consistently keep taking actions. This will remove the creative block as we are more focused on the action than on the end result. Nobody is born perfect, with time we improve, improvise and grow. Just keep taking action instead of sitting over it for long. Besides, talk to someone on an unrelated subject. So I shift from my core areas to completely different topics. Even watching a 10 minute comedy video. It works wonders!

Creativity is energy. If we have a creativity block, we have an energy block. Working with a spiritual coach will allow you to identify the blocks and implement practices or lifestyle adjustments to not only remove them, but also come into a more powerful source of creativity.