As blocked creatives, we often sit on the sidelines critiquing
those in the game. “He’s not so talented,” we may say of a
currently hot artist. And we may be right about that. All too
often, it is audacity and not talent that moves an artist to
center stage. As blocked creatives, we tend to regard these
bogus spotlight grabbers with animosity. We may be able to
defer to true genius, but if it’s merely a genius for self-
promotion we’re witnessing, our resentment runs high. This
is not just jealousy. It is a stalling technique that reinforces
our staying stuck. We make speeches to ourselves and other
willing victims: “I could do that better, if only ...”
You could do it better if only you would let yourself do it!
Affirmations will help you allow yourself to do it. An
affirmation is a positive statement of (positive) belief, and if
we can become one-tenth as good at positive self-talk as we
are at negative self-talk, we will notice an enormous change.
Affirmations are like prescriptions for certain aspects
of yourself you want to change.
JERRY FRANKHAUSERAffirmations help achieve a sense of safety and hope.
When we first start working with affirmations, they may feel
dumb. Hokey. Embarrassing. Isn’t this interesting? We can
easily, and without embarrassment, bludgeon ourselves with
negative affirmations: “I’m not gifted enough/not clever