The Work You Avoid Is the Work That Matters

For filmmakers, actors, writers, and independent creatives. Avoidance rarely looks like laziness. It looks like preparation—learning, tweaking, staying busy. Waiting for the “right moment.” Over time, this pattern quietly sabotages creative growth.

This essay explores why we resist our most meaningful work. How modern creative careers amplify that resistance. And what happens when you finally commit to the uncomfortable craft that actually moves your work—and your career—forward.

Why Avoidance Rarely Looks Like Laziness

When I sat down to do my yearly review of 2025—a habit I’ve kept for the past five years—one thing was obvious.

I had been productive.
I had worked hard.
Mostly for other people.

As a freelance actor, that’s expected.
You show up. You deliver. You stay available.

But every working life involves trade-offs.
And something had been quietly sacrificed.

Productive, But Mostly for Other People

My own work.

The screenplay I’m writing.
The songs I’m producing.
The projects that don’t come with deadlines, contracts, or immediate validation.

Even the articles on my website had received more attention than my personal art.

And yet, when I look back at the past few years, the work I remember most—the work I’m most proud of—is a short film I made shortly after my father died.

It came directly from that experience.
It was emotionally difficult. Personally risky.
And it still matters to me today.

So why don’t I make another project like that?

Because even thinking about it creates resistance.
A quiet inner voice saying: Not again.

But I also know this: once I start, that voice changes.
It turns into: I’m going to make this happen, no matter what.

That’s what happened with the short film.
I was absorbed. Focused. Fully present.

And if I’m honest, that’s the state I miss the most.

Not productivity.
Not momentum.

Connection.

The Work Without Deadlines Is the First to Go

Here’s what I believe:
We don’t avoid personal work because I lack time.
We avoid it because it demands something from us that paid work rarely does.

It asks me to show up without guarantees.
Without applause.
Without knowing if the effort will lead anywhere at all.

Paid work, on the other hand, is safe.

It comes with structure, expectations, and a clear exchange of value.
You give time. You get paid.
You can point to it and say: I’ve been responsible.

Why Personal Work Creates Resistance

Personal work removes that protection.

There’s no contract to hide behind.
No one to blame if it fails.
No paycheck to comfort you, even if the work itself feels hard.
No distance between the work and who you are.

That’s why it creates resistance.
That’s why it feels uncomfortable.

So the next time you tell yourself that success lives in late evenings, fast replies, and constant availability—pause.

Ask a different question.

• What’s the one piece of work you keep postponing, not because it’s impractical, but because it asks too much of you?

That’s where things actually move.