You may have the intention to be more creative, live your dreams, and achieve your goals, but it feels like something is standing in your way. That thing is friction. And that's what we're talking about today.

Friction makes things more difficult, slows you down, and puts obstacles in your path. Bottom line - it's the little things that get in the way of doing what you want to do. Sometimes, friction can be so subtle that you may not even realize it's happening.
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​When it comes to creativity, the desire might be there, but you find yourself continuing to put off the endeavor you want to start. When you identify what the specific friction is, you can work past it.
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​In fact, you will utilize creativity to overcome friction through problem-solving, gaining awareness, and creating space for creativity.

If friction is the little things, then barriers are the big things. Friction is usually overcome with some ingenuity or a change in mindset.
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​Barriers, on the other hand, can involve big changes that often take a longer time.

Friction comes in both physical and mental forms.​

For example, when it comes to starting a creative endeavor, like drawing. A physical type of friction might be having all your art supplies scattered in different places in your home. You don't want the hassle of gathering everything up and making sure you have all the things you need, so you simply don't draw.

A mental friction would be the feelings of self-doubt that creep in when you put pencil to paper. This also keeps you from drawing.

Step 1: Identify the thing you want to do but are not doing.
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​Step 2: Break down the project or goal into the smallest parts possible.
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​Step 3: Think about each step individually. Which one brings up feelings of resistance, annoyance, or any sort of negative feeling? Keep in mind that it may be more than one step that's causing an issue.

Step 4: Brainstorm different ways to overcome the negative feelings.

Step 5: Try out your solutions until you find one that works.

During this show segment, we introduce four ways to interact with the material presented: A question to answer, a quest to complete, an aspect of creativity we've noticed this week, and a quote to ponder.

Do you think it’s barriers or friction that create the most challenge for people?

Find an area of your life where there is friction. How can you reduce the friction?

Overcoming friction to soap making by gathering all supplies on a mobile cart.

"The biggest obstacle to creativity is breaking through the barrier of disbelief."
​- Rodney Mullen