Ideas on a Deadline Book Review (Guest Post)

I’m halfway through Phil Cooke’s book, Ideas on a Deadline, and loving it. The full title of his book is, Ideas on a Deadline: How to Be Creative When the Clock Is Ticking.

I think Phil Cooke spoke at Cru’s Staff Conference in 2009. I’ve followed him closely since.

“Fear becomes your friend, not when it’s gone, but when it’s overcome.”

This quote about fear ( on page 81) really stood out to me:

“Certainly, there are overblown fears. When what I would call a ‘healthy’ fear is replaced by an unfounded or out-of-proportion fear, that’s a bigger issue that needs to be dealt with in other ways. But for most creative professionals, most of the time, we need to embrace it. Look your fear in the face. Understand where it comes from. Your fear is the canary in the coal mine. It could be the early warning sign that something needs to change. That uncomfortable feeling in your gut when you do certain things or make certain decisions shouldn’t be ignored, it should be welcomed. And here’s the important point: Fear becomes your friend, not when it’s gone, but when it’s overcome. When you’re self-aware, you recognize the fear for what it really is and act on it in a way that solves the problem. Your response to the fear is to fix the reason it’s there.”

Phil Cooke is a great thinker and communicator who speaks primarily to Christian creatives and artists. But quite a few things he addresses apply to anyone leading or creating anything.

From Sus: I’m often writing under a deadline. Thanks to Zack for bringing this book to our attention. 

Guest Post by Zack Russell

Zack Russell has served with Cru since 2003, ranging from East Asia to Texas, in both campus ministry and creative media. He specializes in storytelling, writing, and video editing. Zack and his wife, Naomi, raise four kids together in Austin. Every Tuesday, Zack co-hosts the Fantastical Truth podcast for Christian readers of fantasy and science fiction.

FOLLOW PHIL:

• Phil Cooke’s websites
  • Phil Cooke
    • Check out this post by Phil: “The Keys to Productivity for Creative People.“
  • Cooke Media Group
    • Vimeo
• Phil’s author profile and books on Amazon
• Social media:
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Here’s the link to Phil’s book on Amazon:

NOTE: Person and clock photo by Kevin Ku on Unsplash