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It can be beneficial to find a role model and engage in some healthy imitation. Done well, it can give you some confidence.

You shouldn’t copy everything about the person. But notice how they act and try mimicking their successful habits until you can adapt them to your own style. 

Desperation can drive you to push constantly against the boundaries constraining you. But, to avoid burning out, it may be better to tackle your limitations in pulses, with adequate time to reflect and recover between each bout of intense effort.

One study found that participants who swore saw a 2 to 4 percent increase in performance and an 8 percent boost in strength compared to those who kept their mouths shut.

Cursing diverts your attention, which makes you work harder than if you were only focusing on how tough the workout is.

When we complain or vent without cursing, we are keeping ourselves in check and don't totally release all feelings.

Cursing can be an effective emotional release. Our whole body and all emotions are connected with no filter.

- What makes you care about the work that you do?
- What part of you outside of your work is present inside of that world?
- If in financial services, for example, what is it behind the numbers and data that are at the emotional core of your work?

The story needs to have stakes without being necessarily significant. Ask yourself:
- What gets you excited about what you’re talking about? 
- Why do you care? 

Productivity requires continuous output, while creativity is a non-linear, messy, disjointed process that needs to be unstructured.

We have decades of exposure to historical and cultural beliefs on how work should be and what it means to be successful, so it is hard for us to understand creativity.

To be creative, we have let our brains loose. The mind needs rest and time every day to daydream, imagine and get intentionally bored. Letting our minds free is an incredibly important cognitive exercise.

Take the time to expose yourself in diverse subjects, things that inspire you and dissolve boundaries can foster creativity. Identify and let go of wrong beliefs and outdated stories you tell yourself every day.

You might not be in a position to choose your workspace, but there are quick fixes: look for a spot with natural light from a window or skylight, take a walk outside when you feel stuck, or simply explore a new location. 

A new environment can quite literally lead to new ideas.

It's when your brain knows that when you’re in a certain place, you’re taking a certain action.

Take advantage of the way different locations affect you. Our brains love habits, and if we can associate certain qualities with different places, it can help us get into a better working flow. 

Instead of thinking of a cut-and-dry end goal to certain situations, creative people sit back and examine the problem in different ways before beginning to work.

If you find yourself stagnating by focusing on generic problems, try to re-conceptualize the problem by focusing on a more meaningful angle.

For example: Instead of thinking “What would be something cool to paint?” rather ask, “What sort of painting evokes the feeling of loneliness that we all encounter after a break-up?”

Creating “psychological” distance may be useful for breaking through a creative block.

Try to imagine your creative task as being disconnected and distant from your current position/location - this may make the problem more accessible and can encourage higher level thinking.

We usually buy into what our feelings tell us and allow them to overly direct our actions and choices. 

Instead, notice the act of thinking without getting tangled in your thoughts. See your thoughts as ongoing attempts to make meaning of the world — give them power only to the degree that they help you. 

The mind's power over you is an illusion. For instance, say one thing while doing the opposite. You will find that it is possible to do the opposite of what you are thinking. (For example, type, I cannot type this sentence, while you are typing the sentence.) Regularly doing this exercise can give you more freedom to do hard things.

It's your daily actions that will change what you believe about yourself and the person you become. 

Focus on the process. Focus on showing up,  on sticking to the schedule, on “not quitting.”

Eventually, the results and the self–confidence will come anyway. 

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”

A mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notations that is so established that it creates a powerful incentive within you to continue to adopt or accept prior behaviours, choices, or tools.

It’s so powerful that it affects every decision-making process. It predetermines your responses and interpretations of situations.