Mastering Creativity Mastering Creativity | Page 24

24 Constraints are Not the Enemy So often we spend time complaining about the things that are withheld from us. “I don’t have enough time to work out.” “I don’t have enough money to start a business.” “I can’t eat this food on my diet.” But constraints are not the enemy. Every artist has a limited set of tools to work with. Every athlete has a limited set of skills to train with. Every entrepreneur has a limited amount of resources to build with. Once you know your constraints, you can start figuring out how to work with them. The Size of Your Canvas Dr. Seuss was given 50 words. That was the size of his canvas. His job was to see what kind of picture he could paint with those words. You and I are given similar constraints in our lives. You only have 30 minutes to fit a workout into your day? So be it. That’s the size of your canvas. Your job is to see if you can make those 30 minutes a work of art. You can only spare 15 minutes each day to write? That’s the size of your canvas. Your job is to make each paragraph a work of art.