Are you an armchair creative? You are great at learning, preparing, and researching a field, yet something often stops you from taking action.
In this episode of The Gentle Rebel Podcast, we consider some things that stop us from acting and explore how to get out of the armchair in 2025.
Armchair Certainty
“What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?” is a common question in coaching. While intended to free us from debilitating fear, it misses an important point. Knowing we can’t fail leaves us feeling hollow. In The Twilight Zone episode “A Nice Place to Visit,” freshly deceased Rocky Valentine thinks he’s in Heaven because he wins every bet and has every desire met. After a while, he tells his host, Pip that he doesn’t belong in Heaven and wants to go to the other place. “Whatever gave you the idea that this is Heaven?” Pip responds. This is a depiction of Hell being an eternity without the possibility of failure.
“What would you do if you knew you COULD fail?” I like this reframe because it accepts failure as a natural, even necessary, part of a meaningful life. Certainty, while comforting, stifles creativity because it deprives us of the friction required for meaningful action.
Creativity In The Armchair
As armchair experts, we might have accumulated lots of knowledge. We may have devoured books, taken courses, and watched hours of footage. But this knowledge is an arms-length understanding and doesn’t give us the sensory or practical knowledge that can only come through stepping into the arena.
In creativity, this can manifest as over-preparation: planning every detail, waiting for the “perfect” idea, or endlessly theorising without taking the leap.
This intellectualisation offers a false sense of progress. As Mark Manson put it, “People get hooked on endlessly intellectualising their emotional patterns as a way to avoid doing anything about them.” Similarly, intellectualising creativity can mask avoidance. Deep growth begins when we leave the armchair and step into the arena, embracing the messy, unpredictable nature of creating.
Action Breeds Clarity
Songwriter Aaron Espe captures this beautifully: “The best way to have more happy accidents is to do more things. Simply thinking about doing things doesn’t produce happy accidents. You gotta take action.” Whether it’s songwriting, swimming, or starting a business, the act of doing reveals insights that theory cannot.
The Paralysis of Armchair Analysis
Overthinking often disguises itself as preparation. We might tell ourselves we’re “just being thorough,” but in reality, we’re avoiding vulnerability. The fear of failure, judgment, or even our inner critic can keep us stuck.
One of my favourite expressions from Haven meetings in recent years is, “Playing is preparing.” Creativity isn’t about perfect execution; it’s about feeling, practice, and exploration. We can do this in low-stakes ways. Happy accidents happen when we engage with the task before us, not when we think about engaging with it. It’s impossible to think our way to a happy accident.
The Courage to Be Misunderstood
A typical creative block is the fear of being misunderstood. We worry our work will be misinterpreted, criticised, or fail to resonate. But this fear can suffocate creativity. As Brené Brown reminds us, true courage lies in stepping into the arena, risking failure, and embracing imperfection.
One way to develop this courage is to experiment with letting ambiguity be ambiguous. It’s in those gaps that the light gets in. Art that heals does so, not because it intends to but because it is free to land in a billion different ways.
Embracing the Messy Joy of Creativity
So, as we step into 2025, consider this our invitation to be intentional about our place in the armchair.
If this feels alive for you right now, consider booking a “Pick The Lock” call with me. We can explore how to turn your creative urges into actionable, manageable, meaningful plans.
