"I Can't" Is Usually a Lie

I Can’t Is Usually a Lie Every maker has two lists. The list of things they're working on - and the other one. The things they haven't started, haven't finished, keep meaning to get to when the time is right. And next to every item on that second list, there is a reason. Not enough time. Not enough money. Not enough skill yet. Not quite ready. Some of those reasons are legitimate. Real constraints that deserve to be taken seriously and worked around thoughtfully. But some of them are stories - carefully constructed, internally consistent, completely convincing stories that feel exactly like facts from the inside. And unless you have a way to test which is which, you'll treat them all the same. Which means the stories get the same deference as the facts. And nothing moves. This is the third episode in the Ten Principles for a Stronger Creative Practice series, and it introduces a simple reframe test that will tell you - fairly quickly and fairly uncomfortably - whether what you're calling a reason actually is one. We also dig into why capable makers resist owning their choices, how excuse-making hardens into identity over time, and what it actually looks like to sit with the discomfort the test produces rather than argue with it. The Ten Principles for a Stronger Creative Practice download includes the structured exercise for this principle alongside the first two - designed to be worked in sequence. Link to The 10 Principles: http://www.virginialeighstudio.com/learn. The VirginiaLeighStudio Home page: https://www.virginialeighstudio.com Chapters 00:00 - The Stories We Tell Ourselves About Why We Can't 02:38 - Every Maker Has a Second List 05:15 - The Series So Far: Three Layers of the Same Honest Work 05:46 - The Word "Can't" and What It's Actually Doing 06:51 - The Reframe Test: Replace "Can't" With "Choose Not To" 08:53 - The Discomfort Is the Data 09:07 - Walking Through the Test: Real Examples 13:00 - Why Owning a Choice Is Harder Than Reporting a Constraint 16:30 - How Excuse-Making Becomes Identity: Learned Helplessness 19:30 - When the Resistance to the Reframe Is the Most Important Information 22:24 - Real Constraints vs. Stories: How to Tell the Difference 24:37 – Pulling the Three Principles Together The 10 Principles for a Stronger Creative Practice Get them HERE The Fabric & Fiber Studio: https://members.virginialeighstudio.com/thestudio Connect with Virginia: Website = https://www.virginialeighstudio.com Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/virginialeighstudio/ Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/virginialeighstudio