I just read Rick Rubin’s latest book (The Creative Act), which is among the best I’ve ever read on the creative process. 

If you haven’t yet read it, I highly recommend picking it up (I’m not an affiliate or anything, I just loved the book and couldn’t put it down)! It has so many incredible insights that can benefit your creative life.

This week on Twitter, I shared a quick except from the book and wanted to post it again here for all of you today.

Below is a list of Rick Rubin’s thoughts and habits that are not conducive to your creative work:

Virtually every one of these can apply to filmmakers, but a few in particular really stood out to me:

1. Having Goals So Ambitious You Can’t Begin

2. Requiring Specific Tools Or Equipment To Do The Work

3. Feeling Like You Need Permission To Start Or Move Forward

4. Letting a Perceived Lack of Funding, Equipment, or Support Get In The Way

5. Thinking Anything That’s Out Of Your Control Is In Your Way

These 5 issues come up more in conversations with aspiring filmmakers than just about any other.

And while each stem from different places, the antidote is often the same: DIY filmmaking.

If you believe are unable to start because you need more money, more gear, more permission, more support, or more of anything that you can’t control – you’ll never begin. Let alone finish.

But if you flip these things and accept the opposite reality (which is the truth) – that you can make your art under any circumstance – then you will always find a way.

With the right mindset, Micro-budget and DIY filmmaking renders issues like the ones above obsolete.

If you understand the value of the creative process, and the importance of creative growth as a filmmaker, the answer is always to take the path of least resistance to expressing your creativity.

That doesn’t mean you can’t shoot for the stars when it comes to raising funds or securing gear or anything else.

But those things are the icing on the cake. They are not the foundation of your artistry. And if you mistake them the foundation, you may never move beyond that point.

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