Creativity is messy and full of paradox.
Imagination and innovation never thrive on order and certainty. But actualization requires focus and follow-through. To tolerate risk we need some measure of safety but not so much that it chokes off inspiration.
So how do you build a creative life and business without going crazy, or constantly losing the zone and giving up?
Maybe
- You’ve dissolved your limiting beliefs until you feel freer than you have felt ever before, but your big idea is still in your head. Nobody knows what you’re working on.
- You have so many ideas for your business you just can’t decide which ones are worth pursuing.
- You’re becoming obsessed with the possibilities of how you can help transform the world if only you could figure out how to do all the things everyone says you should do.
- Your family, friends and/or clients take top priority in your life, leaving nothing but exhaustion at the end of every single day.
- You just don’t think you’re interesting enough, so you can’t see the value of your ideas.
So what can you do?
If you search Amazon for books on creativity, you’ll get 60,000 results. Finding a guide to help you get your creative projects off the ground just turns into another distraction.
How do you build the daily strategies and habits that allow you to get traction on your desire to create? There are as many ways as there are beings in existence. Yet, I invite you to start with the following checklist to discover your own unique path.
Your creative paradox checklist:
Identify one thing you’re absolutely clear you want to create in your life or business. Now find the confusion that lurks in this creative possibility.
Confusion isn’t a sign that there’s something wrong with you or your idea. It’s just the simple reality that your creative project poses some dilemma in your life. Check-off the most likely source of the confusion from the partial list below, or describe the confusion or problem in your own words
___ Indecision ___ Missing facts ___ Lack of skill ___ Need for support
___ Distraction ___ Overwhelm ___ Poor boundaries ___ Perfectionism
___ Exhaustion ___ Self Doubt ___ Lack of Time ___ Lack of Money
Now consider the transformation that your confusion might suggest:
- A defense mechanism that’s no longer necessary
- A practical solution to an annoying problem
- A choice you’re finally willing to make
- A vital piece of information that’s ready to be discovered
- A blind spot that’s ready to be explored
- A willingness to learn about and employ new strategies
- A rigid stance that could be softened
- A boundary that needs to be created
- Habits that might be formed — or broken
- An injustice that needs to be addressed
Creativity starts with questions. The big questions of your life. The questions that are driving you and/or your clients crazy right this minute. Some of the most powerful questions come from the intersection of both. Hint: try asking questions that start with what, not how.
Grab your journal and write some questions that might help you gain clarity in this situation. Set yourself free to imagine what if……
