88: Wanting Is Not A Plan

Wanting Is Not A Plan Last week covered what making does for your brain - the dopamine, the serotonin, the flow states, the cognitive reserve. All of it real and documented. This week is the follow-up question nobody stops to ask. Because knowing what making can do for you and actually getting those benefits are two completely different things. All that research only delivers under one specific condition. And that condition depends entirely on you. There are two ways to show up in the studio. From the outside they look identical - same materials, same tools, same techniques. The internal experience is completely different. And what each one produces over time differs in ways that are hard to see while you're in it. This episode sheds light on this, asks you to look honestly at which one your actual decisions reveal you're doing, and addresses the gap most makers never close - the one between wanting to get better and actually deciding to pursue it. Drawing on Gay Hendricks - "if you argue for your limitations you get to keep them" - and Anders Ericsson's deliberate practice research, and grounded in a personal account of what the pursuing orientation looks like from the inside and what it cost to claim it fully, this episode ends with a practical inventory: what are you actually pursuing right now, and for the things you say you want but aren't pursuing - are you genuinely deciding they're not worth the effort, or are you arguing for your limitations while keeping the identity of someone who wants them? The VirginiaLeighStudio Home page: https://www.virginialeighstudio.com The Fabric & Fiber Studio: https://www.virginialeighstudio.com/thestudio Chapters 00:00 - The Follow-Up Question 02:13 - Making for Its Own Sake vs Making to Get Better - Both Valid 03:08 - Doing vs Pursuing: What Each One Actually Is 04:38 - What the Difference Produces Over Time 05:36 - Wanting and Willing Are Not the Same Thing 06:54 - Gay Hendricks: If You Argue for Your Limitations 08:15 - What Pursuing Looks Like From the Inside 09:48 - When the Margins Weren't Enough Anymore 11:00 - Anders Ericsson and Deliberate Practice 13:30 - Not Everything Is Worth Pursuing - And That's Not the Same as an Excuse 16:07 - The Honest Version vs the Excuse Version 17:40 - The Personal Inventory: What Do Your Actual Decisions Reveal Connect with Virginia: Website = https://www.virginialeighstudio.com Instagram = https://www.instagram.com/virginialeighstudio/ Facebook = https://www.facebook.com/virginialeighstudio