I realized over the years that communication with myself is more important, especially during the design process. Any doubts, fear of the unknown, questions with no immediate answers, or even too many creative thoughts - could become more of a distraction than it is productive. The consistent rising rivals of my ideas and opinions are the biggest challenge, not only in the beginning but also throughout the process. Regardless, our thoughts never stop, and the creative gears are always moving. And all gears are not creative in a positive way. Sometimes, our minds can be our biggest enemy. The reasons 'not to do', something; procrastination ("I will get to it later”), self-doubt ("I am not good at this” & "I don't know”), and many more are all excuses in truthful space.

Acknowledging excuses and self-convincing has been a very different journey than I anticipated.  It’s been a challenge, and I gave this challenge a name. 'Up-smarting myself.' The challenge consists of starting something... anything... to distract 'my smart'.  I named it ‘my smart’ because it somehow kicks in with great excuses whenever it’s time to work. But I’d like to condition myself to ‘work’ through it... to make my actions automatic. Think about it: things we do automatically are never debated. Do we debate whether we should brush our teeth in the morning? Of course, we don’t.  So I often remind myself to do things until it’s a habit. I start to write things down or sketching or whatever comes to mind. Anything to keep working, even if it is not initially relevant.

What we say to ourselves is an ever crucial part of every aspect of our lives, including matters that we may think are tedious. Whenever doubts start to crawl, start working; whether compiling, sketching, gathering, referencing, writing, discussing, or even working out. Surprisingly the design and planning process has already started, even if you don't realize it.

I believe that we all have the capabilities to do anything as long as we put consistent efforts into it. I remind myself every moment not to poison myself with my own words, doubts, excuses; it is an ongoing battle with myself. Somedays, I lose, and some days I win, and the results are a direct correlation.