If you’re in any type of creative endeavor, there are a handful of books that contain both practical advice and inspiration to keep going through the difficult times.
My top pick in recent years has been Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art for inspiration and Cal Newport’s Deep Work for the nuts-and-bolts of how to do it.
However, a new book by Seth Godin – The Practice – does a wonderful job of fulfilling both these roles.
In this book Seth demystifies the idea that only certain people are gifted with the capacity to be creative. Instead, the secret to creative output (whatever your field) is simple – follow the practice.
Early in the book, he explains what this practice is:
The practice is not the means to the output, the practice is the output, because the practice is all we can control. The practice demands that we approach our process with commitment. It acknowledges that creativity is not an event, it’s simply what we do, whether or not we’re in the mood.
This is book is only a bit over 200 pages, but it reads very quickly, and the short chapters are all perfectly distilled paragraphs of what it means to be a creator (hint: just create).
I don’t have to tell anyone reading this how hard the past several months have been. And it’s necessary to grieve over the people, opportunities, and experiences that have been lost.
But if you’re ready to get back to the hard work of creating, and you’re looking for a book to give you a clear reason whywhat you do (whatever it is) matters, The Practice should be the next book you read.
