I’ve followed Todd Henry via his Accidental Creative podcast for a couple of years. His advice is simple and straightforward: the key to succeeding as a creative professional (writer, artist, web designer, blogger, architect, etc) is to consistently produce brilliant work. His advice, then, is about how to become and remain prolific, brilliant, and healthy.
I also subscribe to Todd’s weekly emails, which I tend to skim just like everything else that comes into my inbox. But last week’s message caught my attention. It’s simple enough: creating requires courage. But he makes a point that I haven’t thought to articulate here yet, and it’s a really good one:
Bravery is typically not about mustering up a singular stroke of energy and overcoming fear for a moment. Rather, it’s about small, daily acts of courage that help us continue making progress on our ambitions, even as uncertainty rears its ugly head.
Courage is not always a single event. More likely, it’s a habit that must be cultivated so it’s not destroyed.
The article is definitely worth a read. If you like it, you can find Todd’s website here and his books, The Accidental Creative and Die Empty, on Amazon. I’ve read The Accidental Creative, but not Die Empty–yet.