“If you think, you stink.”

From Ed Catmull’s book Creativity, Inc.:

Byron Howard, one of our directors at Disney, told me that when he was learning to play the guitar, a teacher taught him the phrase, “If you think, you stink.” The idea resonated with him—and it informs his work as a director to this day. “The goal is to get so comfortable and relaxed with your instrument, or process, that you can just get Zen with it and let the music flow without thinking,” he told me. “I notice the same thing when I storyboard. I do my best work when I’m zipping through the scene, not overthinking, not worrying if every drawing is perfect, but just flowing with and connecting to the scene—sort of doing it by the seat of my pants.”

Too much thinking will mess things up. When I’m struggling or discouraged or anxious and uptight, it’s my mind that’s getting in the way. Instead of try hard, I should try easy, right? Or, just skip trying and simply do.