THE PUSH AND PULL OF CREATIVITY
HOW TO KEEP ON TRACK
I looked up and found myself two streets down and four blocks
over. That's how far away my enthusiasm had carried me from
my original plan.
I had an audio book to edit.
There was a deadline. And suddenly I got an idea for two teleclasses
and dropped everything, outlined them and even wrote the sales
pages.
But thank goodness for knots
in the stomach. Our body knows when it is too much. It knows
when making a certain commitment and creating a new deadline
will not make it happy.
It's ok to stop scheduling
The pressure came when I decided
I had to schedule the teleclasses on certain dates. That made
me have to rush to create sales pages and think the classes
out in some detail and schedule time to write the them.
That brought on the knot
What if I didn't schedule them
for participation until they were complete? How lovely. Wouldn't
I have a great time exploring and fleshing them out and adding
and refining them? I could do it for the fun and joy rather
than because I had literally "made up" some deadline.
You don't have to complete everything
you start, but it certainly does feel great when you do. And
it's lovely to let creative ideas mature when they are ready.
Allow space for the push and
pull of creativity
I totally believe in honoring
the muse-when the words start to come, I start writing. This
article is not on any "to-do" list. It just needed
to be written-now. So I am. I'm always ready to catch the flow
of thought when it's on a roll.
And to a certain extent, the
two teleclasses needed to be started too because I needed to
capture the thoughts as they were coming in. They are about
information I want to learn more about and put into use myself.
But I have an agreement with
myself to complete my e-book, which is a half hour away from
being complete, and its companion audio book which is probably
nine hours away from completion.
First things first. I'll keep
my promises to myself
Get real about how long it will
take
Sometimes it helps me to write
down how long it will take me to complete a step. If it takes
me 30 minutes to do some final tweaking on my e-book, I could
have a great sense of accomplishment in 30 minutes.
But the nine hours is a bigger
deal. It's not as much fun to edit as it is to create. So I
have to think of committing to editing two chapters at a time
with a willingness to work longer if I feel up to it. I have
to want to complete it enough to do it. And for me, I prefer
to work far enough ahead so I never feel rushed. I will schedule
specific editing times in my weekly calendar.
Take time to clean out your creative
closet
It's also ok to simply give
up on things. Drop things from your "to do" list when
it's really clear you're never going to get to them. That makes
you feel better. It's a bit like cleaning out your closet, making
room for new things to come in by tossing out whatever you have
not worn for the past year!
Stay close to the tasks that
make money
It's important that we stay
close to the tasks that move our business forward, not just
maintain it. Hire out the administrative stuff if that's not
your cup of tea or if it takes up too much of your time. Keep
your time focused on finding new opportunities to explore, new
products to offer, or new classes to create. Stay close to the
things that make money. That's your primary job.
And particularly if, in your
most creative mood, you have no desire to send out an invoice,
get help. Stay with your talent. Stay with your passion.
Make a thoughtful business plan
and base your actions on it
When I found myself so far away
from where I thought I should be, I had to stop and look at
the business plan I have made for myself. What had I decided
in a thoughtful, rational moment, that I needed to do this month
to move my business forward? That comes first. My creative binges
need to be corralled into useful segments. Fun as they are,
they cannot rule my world!!!
Opt for the most forward moving
and lucrative choice. Maybe it's a down-to-earth step that needs
to be taken and maybe it's something totally creative! You must
make room for both.
© 2007 Cara Lumen
