Overcoming Anxiety, Worry, & Creative Drama
Creativity can be incredibly emotional! So today we’re sharing how you can navigate all the big emotions that come up when utilizing your creativity.
We want you to find the tools to navigate the thoughts and feelings that arise during the creative process.
Below we’ve shared some specific steps you can take to deal with anxiety, worry, and drama so you can start creating your very best work!
Let’s get started!
A Different Way
There is a different way to deal with all those big emotions that come up whenever you try to create something. A more gentle, realistic approach.
Whether you have a creative project, creative business or just want to use your creativity for fun…We want to help you create work that isn’t filled with tons of negative emotions, but speaks to who you truly are and what you have to offer.
In order to do this, we need to find a better way of taking care of all those emotions that arise anytime you touch your keyboard, grab your pen/paintbrush, or try to hit send on an email, blog post, Instagram post, or anything else you’re trying to share or create.
During your creative process, you’ll always find roadblocks or hurdles that may have stopped you in the past.
Instead of saying “Oh, no big deal, just jump over that,” we want you to acknowledge the roadblocks, hurdles, and the resistance.
We’re not ignoring those big emotions and we’re not going to push right through with an, “I can do anything, this is easy” mindset.
Instead, we’re going to take a gentler and more realistic approach today…
Understand
Be kind
And choose again
All emotions are valid and can be useful
You may have had someone tell you before or maybe you’ve told yourself things like:
“Stop worrying”
“You don’t need to be anxious”
“Quit the mind drama”
And although those things might be true they aren’t really helpful thoughts. It’s not easy to just “stop worrying” or “stop being anxious” and that’s important to recognize.
IT’S OKAY that you are feeling one of these emotions (anxiety, worry, creative drama or something else)
All emotions are valid and can be useful. If you find one that isn’t useful (like anxiety) then you can get better at recognizing when you’re feeling that emotion and decide what you want to do next.
So you already know that being anxious or having lots of mind drama with your creative work isn’t super helpful. But why doesn’t that stop you from feeling that emotion?
Because depending on your personality, that might be your default mindset. You might automatically go into “worry mode” or “anxious mode” or “drama mode” because that’s what you're used to.
Instead of trying to hurry and shut down that mode, make it disappear or cover it up, it’s always much more helpful to fully recognize that you are in one of those modes.
What mode are you in?
Depending on your personality and the type of creative work you’re pursuing you might have one that is a bigger issue for you than others.
See if you can spot which one is your “Achilles heel.” You might deal with all of them and that’s totally fine too.
Anxiety mode
Worry mode
Drama mode
Let’s take a look at each one.
Anxiety Mode
This can look like:
Having recurring thoughts of worry, fear, nervousness, uneasiness that you repeat over and over again in your mind.
You may have different scenarios that you replay over and over again that have happened in the past or that might happen in the future.
This is when you’re afraid or nervous something will happen in the future or happen again.
You might have thoughts like, “What if this doesn’t work? Are people going to read what I wrote? What if someone thinks the price is too high? What if no one buys this?”
Problems with creating in “anxiety mode”
Causes distress, fear, worry, uneasiness
Hard to create something new, move forward, or focus when you’re greatly concerned about something that may or may not happen.
Hard to create something truthful or have inspiring ideas when you're preoccupied with worrying about potential problems or feeling a lot of fear.
Do you experience anxiety mode?
If this is you, try investigating. See if there are certain triggers that lead you to anxiety mode. See if you can recognize when you are in this mode and how it affects your creative work. How do you show up when you’re in anxiety mode?
2. Worry Mode
This can look like:
Being overly concerned about something going wrong or something happening that you don’t want to encounter.
Experiencing inaction or action in order to prevent or avoid negative emotion, certain situations or make you focus on solving the problem.
Might sound like, “I better not share this, because what if no one reads it? I’m worried that nobody will like this. I’m worried that I’m not that my _____ isn’t good enough. “
Problems with creating when you’re feeling worried about your creative work:
Can stop you from working on what matters most
Can stop you from getting to the good stuff or taking action when your preoccupied with something else
Are you in worry mode a lot?
If so, you want to ask yourself, “What are you worried about the most when it comes to your creative work?”
3. Creative Drama Mode
This can look like:
Having a lot of mind drama about a creative project
Drama that you vocalize to others. It could look like:
Having lots of conversations with others on how hard something is or why you aren’t doing something. (Making excuses or reasoning why)
Have mind drama (lots of back and forth conversations with yourself in your head)
A super loud inner critic
When your thoughts and feelings about a specific situation, action or event get heightened. Making your thoughts or the situation mean something that isn’t completely true or factual.
You make it a bigger deal than it actually is.
Sounds like: “Oh no! This isn’t working.”
Problems with creating when you have lots of mind drama with your creative work:
You spend extra time creating drama that isn’t necessary. Takes away from actually getting your work done.
Are you in drama mode sometimes?
Remember that your thoughts create your feelings and that propels action or inaction. If you’re thinking or talking a lot about something, but not doing what you need to, look at the thought that’s causing your actions or inactions.
Say you started a creative project, but now you’re not doing the next important step. Take a look at that. What is the thought that is causing you to act in a certain way?
Replacement Modes
It’s key that before you try getting rid of a negative emotion (like worry, fear, or anxiety) you need to fully address what mode you are in.
See if there is something there you are avoiding. Something you need to feel, experience or rethink.
Once you’ve fully processed it, see if there’s a backup mode or a replacement mode for that one. Not because you want to hurry and stop feeling uncomfortable, but because you want to be in a mode that serves you and your creativity the best!
Here’s a list of some “replacement modes” you could try out.
“Relaxed mode”
“Peaceful mode”
“Inspired mode”
“Excited mode”
“Fun mode”
“Playful mode”
“Exploring mode”
“Focused mode”
“Driven mode”
“Important mode”
“Thoughtful mode”
“Service mode”
“Bigger picture mode”
“Present moment mode”
A few reminders
If you get into “worry mode” or “drama mode” that’s okay! It’s not wrong. It doesn’t have to be fixed. Remember all emotions are valid and all emotions can be useful.
When you are in a certain mode you might have dialogue that sounds like that mode.
“Oh no, I’m in worried mode again”
“Ugh, I can’t believe I’m in drama mode again, this is ridiculous”
Try to come at it from a gentle and realistic approach. “Oh looks like I’m in worry mode right now. I can see why, I usually get a little worried when I’m trying something new.”
It’s good to acknowledge that you are feeling worried. (It’s not wrong or bad, that’s just how you’re feeling and that’s fine) or once you’ve fully experienced that feeling, you can choose to replace it with a different mode that’s more helpful if you’d like.
You get to choose how you want to feel!
We hope this content will help you in overcoming anxiety, worry and mind drama when it comes to working on a creative project.
You are not alone in this
You are not alone in this. Hundreds of women have listened to the podcast episode on this (see Ep. 164 of The Progress Project or find audio link below) and are also dealing with these emotions as well.
You aren’t wrong for feeling a certain way. You’re right where you should be! Just try being a little kinder to yourself and your creativity.
We hope you can take one of the tools we mentioned today and start applying it into your own life so you can start creating work that you’re proud of!
xoxo, Laura + Kristin
Listen to the content
Click below or on apple podcasts & choose episode 164
You can also search The Progress Project on any podcast app including Spotify!
Want help creating your very best work?
You don’t have to do this all on your own. We’re here to help!
Join this month’s class for just $5 and we’ll give you everything you need to start creating your very best work!
Our classes are fun, simple and on a “take at your own pace” kind of schedule.
In this class, we’re helping you reconnect with your creativity on a very personal level. You’ll dive deep into what’s keeping you from making progress you're proud of and learn how to have fun and play freely with your creativity so you can start creating your very best work!
Our brand new workbook “Reconnecting With Your Creative Self” (digital and printable version included)
A fun and simple 5 day challenge with a PDF of 20+ activities to choose from
1 Guided Meditation to let go of creative stress
1 Mini Podcast Episode to build creative resilience
Ask us anything Q&A
20 min creative coaching call for VIP level Patrons only
Come have some fun with us and start seeing progress you’re proud of! You and your creativity deserve this!
FYI: This class will disappear by the end of June 2021. If you join our VIP level, you’ll still get access to our past classes and monthly creative coaching calls.
Laura + Kristin
Ready to make more time for what you love?
Grab our FREE time blocking toolkit HERE that includes 3 great resources to get you started.
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