There’s a surprising brain hack you can employ to do your best work, and it requires less effort than you think. Ditch harsh judgment, self-criticism, and rigid planning, and hack your brain by stepping into the role of “explorer.” An explorer has no expectations or plan and places no value on a finished product. An explorer simply flows. Read on as I share how I step into this role and what it means for my creative work.
You can either be a host to God, or a hostage to your ego. It’s your call.
Wayne Dyer
Brain Hack: Step Into the Role of Explorer
I have been working on painting a series of 10, 12″ x 12″ birch panels.
Most mornings, I set up my palette, brushes, and panels and drop into the most delicious, playful state. I select colors based upon what feels good, what conveys an energetic state I’m after.
I don’t worry about composition initially. I set aside any fear of the unknown. I simply focus on getting down paint and begin creating rich layers of marks.
I work quickly, almost trancelike, turning boards this way and that. I’ll concentrate on a board for about five minutes or so in a burst of expressive moves before moving on to the next.
I feel like a possessed conductor in front of an orchestra of instruments and musicians, gesturing with passionate, wild abandon.
Nothing is in my mind. No fear. No judgment. No holding back.
It’s just me, the paint, the boards, and the brushes.
I’ll work until I feel the fire within me begin to turn from red embers to gray, my signal to wrap up the session. I grab my brushes and go to the sink to wash up.
When I come back into the studio, I survey the panels and let the emotion of each lift off the flat surface and float in the air. I’ll be intrigued with what I made in such a flurry of no mind, no attachment to the outcome.
I see the lighter side of me be made manifest in each painting. The part of me that has surrendered to the creative thrash, joyfully exploring the edges of what is possible.
I love the energy of these pieces. Each is a testament to how far I’ve come. I’m no longer trapped inside a self-made jail cell living and being “Clipboard Susie”—always striving for some perfect ideal and feeling I’ll never hit the mark.
Suffocated by my own harshly judging brain. Stuck, overwhelmed, and burned out.
Rather, I have embodied “Explorer Susie” during my time in the studio, happily lost in the unknown without fear of uncertainty or the sight of paths that have grown over. There are no borders to my creativity and no boxes I’m trying to fit into.
I know I can make my own path as I intentionally choose a direction and step upon unfamiliar ground.
To employ this brain hack, I picture myself stepping into this role, shedding every limitation and expectation as I do so, like a layer of clothing.
The Results
Before I leave the studio for the day, I turn and notice my “throwaway board”—the panel I keep near my side to hold excess paint from brushes as I work. It is not an art panel; it merely serves as a paint repository as I clean brushes.
Most of the time, my throwaway panel is my favorite piece of the day. This brain hack, where I step into the role of explorer, has enabled me to do some of my best work.
The colors have no rhyme or reason. There isn’t an intentional design. It is a hodgepodge of marks and hues.
And yet.
It has a delicious quality to it. Free, unencumbered, connected to the divine. It is “Explorer Susie” with zero ego.
The wild “official” paintings I made are filled with color, vibrancy, and untamed energy. As much as I may love them, they still carry a tiny attachment, an umbilical cord to my old desire to perform perfectly.
You can spot it in the work. Feel it.
Our work in art and life is a never ending attempt to overcome ourselves. We shed layer after layer as we excavate down to the depths of who we truly are, releasing what is not us—those ancient concerns of “what will everyone think,” “will I/this work be good enough,” and “I must achieve to have worth.”
It is only when we have unzipped and stepped out of the weird suit of our ego’s attachments that we can find a frontier of freedom that not only generates our best work but boundless joy, ease, and flow. Next time you delve into your creative work, try stepping into your explorer mindset. What does your explorer need to let go of to do their best work? Where will they go without limitations or expectations?
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Let’s Talk Imposter Syndrome (Part 1)
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