Author Brianna Wiest has published a gem of a book in 2020 which explores the concept of ‘transforming self-sabotage into self-mastery’, as the book’s tagline suggests. Any creative process requires transformation of both the creator and the creation, therefore I’ve found Wiest’s book to be a valuable resource for creatives who may be experiencing self-limiting beliefs, procrastination, or fear of failure and/or success in their respective artistic domain.

At 239 pages and seven digestible chapters it is an easy, yet focused, read as it requires space and time for reflection. Wiest writes about self-sabotaging behaviours, emotional triggers and how to interpret them, building emotional intelligence, releasing the past, letting go of unrealistic expectations, what healing really means, building a new future, and becoming mentally strong.

While this book doesn’t delve deeply into artistic practice, it is dedicated to any person looking to better understand themselves. Since art is the expression and extension of its creator, any creator with a stronger self concept stands to gain much from reading this text.

So what is your mountain?

According to Wiest, “your mountain is the block between you and the life you want to live. Facing it is also the only path to your freedom and becoming. You are here because a trigger showed you to your wound, and your wound will show you to your path, and your path will show you to your destiny.”

“To have a mountain in front of you does not mean you are fundamentally broken in some way. Everything in nature is imperfect, and it is because of that imperfection that growth is possible.”

Often it is ourselves standing in our own way. If you feel stagnant in the pursuit of our goals, perhaps its worth noting your beliefs and habits. Wiest encourages her readers to become aware of any negative and false beliefs and start to shift to a mindset that actually serves them. These mindsets and beliefs initially exist to keep us safe from perceived threats.

The first step toward real change is to be completely accountable as Wiest explains, “the greatest act of self-love is to no longer accept a life you are unhappy with. It is to be able to state the problem plainly and in a straightforward manner.”

Wiest challenges you to find the root of your past pain and to create space for renewal and creation. The chapter on interpreting negative emotions was particularly valuable in this regard. “When we self-sabotage, it is often because we have a negative association between achieving the goal we aspire to and being the kind of person who has or does that thing… In order to reconcile this, you have to begin to challenge these preexisting ideas and then adopt new ones.”

“Your life purpose is the point at which your skills, interests, and the market intersect.”

Brianna Wiest

“You are the blueprint of your future. Everything that you are, everything that you have experienced, everything that you’re good at, every circumstance you have found yourself in, everything that you’re passionate about is not random; it’s a reflection of who you are and a sign about what you are here to do.”

She acknowledges that any form of change is difficult, but necessary. “Human beings experience a natural resistance to the unknown, because it is essentially the ultimate loss of control. This is true even if what’s “unknown” is benevolent or even beneficial to us.”

Furthermore, sudden change is not sustainable. It’s more practical to create habits that you can stick to over time and to show up authentically as you. “The truth is that you do not change your life when you fix every piece and call that healing. You change your life when you start showing up exactly as you are.”

“A mind-blowing, singular breakthrough is not what changes your life. A microshift is.” Microshifts are tiny increments of change in your day-to-day life. As Ryan Holiday has noted, “It’s not radical moments of action that give us long-lasting, permeating change – it’s the restructuring of our habits.”

Perhaps one of the most pertinent takeaways in this book for the creative person is to tend to the inner child, to make space to imagine and play, as Wiest states, “schedule time to play. When we were kids, all we did was imagine and play. Our lives were our canvases, and we inherently understood that we could make believe absolutely anything and spend the day living it out… if you really want to enjoy life, you have to make time to do what you loved when you were young. Paint, play in the sand, play games you love, and be creative for the sake of it.”

“You must claim it. You must create it. Your own healing process will create an invisible ripple effect on the collective. If we want to change the world, we change ourselves. If we want to change our lives, we change ourselves. If we want to scale the greatest mountains before us, we change how we arrive at the path.”

This book is necessary reading for anyone seeking direction and sense of connection, not only for the purpose of creating art, but for the purpose of living.