Calling All Writers, Creative Entrepreneurs, Artists, Activists, and Messengers

June 10, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Dear writers, creative entrepreneurs, artists, activists, and messengers:

I’m looking to connect with established or up and coming creators of all sorts about “what makes you tick” as I’m developing new offerings for my business.

I have a particular fondness for screenwriters and sci fi and fantasy creators of all types — including writers, screenwriters, directors, etc. — but I am also looking to connect with musicians, painters, activists, artists, and other creative types who feel they have art, a message, or a movement to get out into the world through their creative expression.

I’m doing a combination of surveys and informational interviews by phone right now, designed to help me get more information about what creative types most struggle with and how I might be able to help them get their work into the world. This is a research project.

If you’re willing to help, take my survey online here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/creative-messengers/. If you’re willing to be interviewed, let me know in the survey on the last page and be sure to give me your contact information.

When you complete the survey in its entirety by Wednesday, June 15th and include your contact information, you’ll be automatically entered in a drawing to win a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate.

How cool is that?

Jenna

 

 

 

p.s. If you feel like leaving me a note on the blog about YOUR biggest challenges getting your creative work out into the world, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section below.

p.p.s. If you know of someone who might be a good candidate for me to interview, please encourage them to take my survey. Thank you!

 

 

Filed Under: Announcements, Creativity Tagged With: , , , , ,

When the Going Gets Blocked, Can the Blocked Get Going?

June 8, 2011 by 11 Comments

I’m writing an e-book about busting yourself on your creative blocks so you can get your work into the world.

I’m writing it for you.

And I’m writing it for me.

Reasons We Get Creatively Blocked

There appear to be a number of reasons for being creatively blocked (aka writer’s block or artist’s block), including

  • external causes like a loss, death, or divorce,
  • internal causes like beliefs, perfectionism, or self-doubt,
  • other things like “second novel/album syndrome” and creative depletion.

It’s fascinating to study and to write about — and even to get blocked over. *grin*

Taking a Closer Look at Where Blocks Come Up

I found myself examining closely my own creative blocks today in my morning pages and noticed that I feel blocked when I start telling myself stories about things I think will be hard, or when I can’t “figure out” how to get “through” a certain part of a scene I’m working on in my screenplay or how to organize a certain section of my e-book.

It also happens when I get afraid that I won’t be able to do something I want to do in the style I want to do it in — for the screenplay I want it to be fast paced and action-filled, with the e-book I want it to be spunky and fun.

The dreaded inner critic rears his head and says, “What if you can’t pull that off?”

Stuff That’s Helping So Far

And what I’m noticing about this is:

1. Just taking the time to name exactly where I’m stuck is helpful because it tells me what I need to do next to get going again.

For example, with the screenplay, I want to get some help on getting through “the dreaded middle” and I also want to focus my efforts for the time being on the “battle scene,” which quite honestly sounds a lot more fun than figuring out how I’m going to GET to the battle scene.

With my e-book, I realized that I need to take a step back and do some of that organizational work in a brainstorming context — and that’s freeing me up to see it from a new perspective.

2. Busting my inner critic publicly (here) makes him settle down a little bit (though it’s also a bit embarrassing), but also writing about what I want to accomplish with the style and tone of what I do is also hugely helpful because it puts me back into the bigger picture perspective about what I’m doing.

3. Do the next thing. Zara reminded me today how important it is not to bite off more than you can chew; it’s easy to get overwhelmed and/or distracted thinking about how to market the e-book and whether or not people will like it before I’ve even crafted the darn thing.

But my real job is to do the next step, then the one after that.

And then the one after that.

Head Down, Eyes Up?

It’s funny, but so true, I have to remember to keep my eyes on the prize (my Big Vision) and keep my head down (doing the next thing) all at the same time. It’s that middle term thinking that gets me all gummed up.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What this sparks for you about your own work
  • How you get creatively blocked and how you get out of it

Let’s skip:

  • Feeling like you need to give me advice (thanks!)
  • Stories about how you never ever ever get creatively blocked

 

Coming Attractions

~> June 9th, 16th, and 23rd, 2011. My brand new Life Purpose Breakthrough Group event series. Details.

~> June 14th. Live recording session for my next broadcast of my Dreamification Radio show on Radio Lightworker. Join me to get your questions answered LIVE. Details TBA.

~> June 18th. Next broadcast of my Dreamification Radio show on Radio Lightworker. Details. Listen from anywhere in the world to this Internet radio show.

~> June 28th. Mark your calendar! And stay tuned for a special, affordable one-time class that’s perfect for anyone who wants to integrate a new behavior or new identity in their life.

 


~> June 10th. Celebrating my husband’s birthday!

~> MONDAYS. Working on my Right Brain Business Plan with my buddy Kris Carey.

~> FRIDAYS. Sacred writing days. The Do Not Disturb sign is up.

~> Celebrating the 4th of July with my family.

Filed Under: Creative Blocks, Quiet Your Inner Critic Tagged With: , , , , , ,

On Being Creative, Innovative, and Failing (Or Not)

June 1, 2011 by 2 Comments

I had the pleasure of attending Andrea J. Lee‘s Wealthy Thought Leader event via simulcast over the weekend.

Many of the talks were right up my alley, focusing on creativity, innovation, and getting your message to the world.

Here are a few highlights you’ll enjoy. It’s a bit jam-packed with power thoughts, but I know you’ll find just the right bits that will inspire you.

Nurture Your Creativity

One of the brilliant speakers was Michael Port, author of Book Yourself Solid and three other books. Michael emphasized how important it is for us to nurture our creativity.

He mentioned, “the more creative you perceive yourself to be, the more creative you will be.”

Love that.

Some of my other favorite takeaways from his talk:

  1. “An artist’s job is to break the rules, to look at what is and to say, ‘What if?'”
  2. “What’s more important to you: Approval? Or results?” Your desire to be liked can kill your creativity.
  3. Articulate first what it is that you want to do, then recofigure what already exists. That’s innovation. (This reminds me of my recent article about pants and trains.)
  4. Michael also talked about failing spectacularly and seeing it not as a failure but rather as evidence of moving closer and closer to his dreams.

Push Your Creative Edge

Another favorite speaker of mine was Michael Bungay Stainer, who seems to fully embody the very essence of creativity. Michael is known on Twitter as Box of Crayons, and is the author of Do More Great Work and Get Unstuck and Get Going.

Stainer was full of brilliance in the realm of innovation and pushing your creative edge.

He pointed out:

  1. The danger of focusing only on the TABO (“True and Bleedingly Obvious”) and instead aiming for making it cool, extraordinary, or truly exceptional. We must be willing to be thought leaders and to be different (no matter how scary that is).
  2. The difference between being scared and scarred, and how our wounds are great sources of strength, wisdom, and stories waiting to be told. (I know you’ve heard me say, “You teach what you are here to learn.”)
  3. “When all is said and done, there’s a lot more said than done.” Or as Sonia Choquette would say, “Too much talking!”
  4. And a long time favorite of mine from Ernest Hemingway, “The first draft of anything is SHIT.”
  5. He gave us a number of tools to play with to push the envelope with our projects, like:
  • How can you cut out 90%? (Think audience, content, size, price, packaging, etc.)
  • How can increase the impact by 100 times? (Think increasing numbers of products, increasing the audience, increasing the distribution.)
  • Break the rules — list out 7 rules that apply to your idea. Pick one, and think of 5 ways you can break it.
  • Using criteria to select which projects to focus on: What’s easiest? What’s the fun thing to do? Which will have the most impact? What do you want to do?

Failure is Not What It Seems

I also loved hearing from photographer and relationship healer Jesh de Rox talk about art, creativity, innovation, and failing:

  1. “An artist is someone who doesn’t wait for someone else’s permission to make decisions that belong to them.”
  2. “An innovator is an artist who embraces business or a business person who embraces art.”
  3. “We are not good at telling whether or not something is a failure.” He made a number of powerful points about why and how failure is NOT what it seems and how it can be such an incredible gift, including:
  • “Easy wins make crummy stories.”
  • “Failing gives you an opportunity to find out who loves you.”
  • “Taking failure personally is crippling.”
  • “ANYTHING that happens to you can be a reason to stop or a reason to continue.” You have a choice. “Our heroes seem to be the ones who consistently choose the latter.”

Brilliant.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What this sparks for you.
  • How do you see innovation and creative expression?
  • How have you reframed “failure” or how can you?

 

Coming Attractions

 

 

~> May 31st, 2011. My Artist’s Way Accountability & Support Group completes. Details.

~> June 9th, 16th, and 23rd, 2011. My brand new Life Purpose Breakthrough Group event series. Details.

~> June 16th, 2011. Next broadcast of my Dreamification Radio show on Radio Lightworker. Details. Listen from anywhere in the world to this Internet radio show.

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: , , , , ,

It’s All Been Said Before — Or Has It?

May 18, 2011 by 16 Comments

You Think You Have Nothing New to Say?

A big obstacle I hear my clients talk about is fearing that they’ll have nothing new to say on their subject.

“Julia Cameron already wrote The Artist’s Way, what could I possibly have to say about creative recovery that is new or different?” (Except that Steven Pressfield and so many others have too.)

“Anne McCaffrey already wrote the best books about dragons, I can’t possibly approach it from a fresh perspective.” (Except that Patrick Rothfuss, Christopher Paolini, and Naomi Novik have kicked some serious dragon ass lately.)

This is what I say to my clients:

“You have a specific audience that will only hear this message from you. They may have heard it 100 times before, but they will not hear it in exactly this way until YOU are the one that says it to them.

“Plus, you have your own unique perspective and take on what it is that you are sharing. Your work is a magical amalgamation of everything you have learned, with a twist that is just your own, pulled together in a way that only you can do. That makes your voice worth hearing.”

“And besides,” I add, “if you don’t say it (or write it or share it), your audience will never receive it. They are waiting to hear it from you.”

The Missing Piece

Today I found the perfect add-on antidote to this fear from French Romantic artist Eugène Delacroix (noted in the sidebar of the Artist’s Way no less):

“What moves men of genius, or rather what inspires their work, is not new ideas, but their obsession with the idea that what has already been said is still not enough.”

My heart said, “YES! That’s it!”

There IS a missing piece here, and this touches it.

Somehow you know there is more to say on your subject, and that is why you are drawn to it. So rather than doubting that you have important words to add to the conversation, just do it.

Lend your voice to the conversation.

Speak your mind.

Share your thoughts.

Good grief, I’m writing an ebook about creative blocks. Aren’t there enough of those already?

Apparently not, or I would not be drawn to write one.

Choosing A Niche

We know that choosing a specific niche is a more powerful way to position yourself in a market and therefore attract more clients and be more successful.

And yet choosing a niche is often triggers this very obstacle: “So-and-so is already ‘The’ Coach/Consultant/Expert/Writer/? on this topic, how can I possibly add more?” etc. etc.

The solution?

Pants.

And trains.

Read on…

The Wonderful World of Pants

In my Artist’s Way Accountability and Support Group today Mary shared a funny perspective on pants:

Just because one person once-upon-a-time made pants, that didn’t deter the second person from coming along and having a go at making their own kind of pants. She added, “I’m just the second pants maker.”

There are so many different kinds of pants, why would we ever think we couldn’t make our own contribution to the marketplace? In the case of pants, we could aim to fit other body types, to try another style, to specialize in particular kind of pants (dress, maternity, casual, work, jeans, dress jeans), etc.

Taken a step farther, one could have thought that Levi’s had cornered the market on jeans back-when, and for a while they did. But then pretty soon someone thought they could take another crack at it.

It goes to show you that there is always room to innovate, to do better, and to ‘say’ more.

The Ultra Specific British Train Niche

Similarly, I’ve been recently exposed to a new perspective on niche in the ultra specific case of British train series for kids.

My 3-1/2 year old loves the trains, shows, and characters from Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends. Through the course of exploring around, we somehow happened upon another British train series, Chuggington, that is also great fun.

How audacious for someone to take a stab at a new British train franchise with the huge success of Thomas already! Who knew the world would need (or want) two British train series for kids?

So Why Not You, Too?

So when you think about your specific expertise and lending your voice to the topic you’re most passionate about, can you find the courage to be innovative and step out with your fresh perspective and voice, trusting that you’ll have something new to say, no matter who else might “already” be doing it?

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • How this resonates for you?
  • Other examples you might have of innovations that inspire you to speak up or write about your topic.
  • Anything else this sparks for you.
  • Post your comments on my blog.

 

Coming Attractions

~> May 17th and 24th, 2011. My Artist’s Way Accountability & Support Group continues. Details.

~>May 26th to May 28th, 2011. Attending Andrea J. Lee’s Wealthy Thought Leader event via simulcast.

~>May 28th, 2011. Next broadcast of my Dreamification Radio show on Radio Lightworker. Details. Listen from anywhere in the world to this Internet radio show.

~>June 9th, 16th, and 23rd, 2011. My brand new Life Purpose Breakthrough Group event series. Details.

 

Filed Under: Creativity, Find Your Voice Tagged With: , , , ,

No Matter Where You Go, There You Are

May 13, 2011 by 4 Comments

One of the things I absolutely LOVE about doing life purpose work is that no matter where you go, there you are.

You simply cannot escape yourself, no matter how much you might want to. This is both hard news and good news, in my opinion.

Here’s why:

You cannot escape your lessons.

You cannot escape the challenges, struggles, and growth you signed up for. There will always be more opportunities to learn, to grow, to do better. To be a better human.

Similarly, you cannot escape your destiny.

You cannot escape the truth, beauty, wisdom, and power of who you really are. It will always find you.

You have the choice.

You have the opportunity to choose to meet your lessons and your destiny consciously and head on. You can make the most of them, or not. But there will always be chances to choose. When one door closes, another one opens.

 

I’m opening a door today if you’d like to walk through it with me and meet your destiny with your eyes wide open. There are still 2 spaces available in my Intuition & Inner Wisdom Group and in my Creativity Group for my Life Purpose Breakthrough Sessions. Registration CLOSES tonight, May 12th at Midnight Eastern Time. Register here to reserve your spot to find your Life Lesson and Life Purpose and find your way to where you belong in the world.

 

Filed Under: Life Purpose Tagged With: , , ,

Free TeleCall & Chat: The Truth About Finding & Living Your Life Purpose

May 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment

TOMORROW, Thursday,  May 12th from 10 to 11 a.m. Pacific / 1 to 2 p.m. Eastern, I’m hosting a free TeleCall and Live Chat to celebrate and share with you about:

* The Truth About Finding & Living Your Life Purpose *

On the call, I’ll be talking about what it means to find and live your life purpose, why it’s not the panacea it appears to be, but why it’s also one of the most inspiring and motivating pieces of information you can have in your life tool kit.

I’ll also be sharing 3 inspiring questions you can use to help you stay on track with living your life purpose, and a bit about hand analysis — the powerful technology I use to illuminate your Life Purpose — how it works and why I think it’s the best way to discover your Life Purpose I’ve seen (and I’ve explored many methods).

But most of all, I’ll be answering YOUR questions about figuring out your Life Purpose and getting back on track with what you were put here to do.

You don’t need to register to join in. Just call in at the right time and you’ll be able to listen to me sharing — and answering your questions — about how to live your Life Purpose.

Here’s how to participate:

Join the conference call by phone:

Dial: (712) 432-0075
Access Code: 182231#

Or

Join the conference call with Skype:

Step 1 Add “freeconferencing” to Skype contacts
Step 2 Click Dial to call the conference
Step 3 Locate the Key Pad and enter access code when prompted

Then

Join the live chat by going to this page on my website:
https://calledtowrite.com/livechat

To ask questions, and participate in the chat, you’ll need to enter a username. You’ll also need to have JavaScript enabled on your computer.

Here’s what to do in the meantime:

1. Mark this in your calendar so you remember to come at 10 a.m. Pacific on Thursday, May 12th (that’s 11 Mountain, 12 noon Central, 1 Eastern, 6 GMT)

and

2. Get ready with your questions about Life Purpose, Life, the Universe and Everything.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Warmly,

Jenna

p.s. The call will be recorded so if you miss it I’ll be posting it later on my blog. If you can’t attend live, you don’t need to do anything except check my blog for the audio a little later in the day.

p.p.s. To be fair, I also want to remind you that Thursday, May 12th (tomorrow) is the last day to register for one of my Life Purpose Breakthrough Groups, so if figuring out YOUR Life Purpose is on your agenda, you’ll want to sign up now at https://calledtowrite.com/lifepurposeoptions

Filed Under: Announcements Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Ending the Struggle and Facing the Fear

May 11, 2011 by 5 Comments

I’ve been thinking a lot about “ending the struggle against yourself” and “not being so hard on yourself” because that ranked so highly in my recent poll.

And as I was reviewing my morning pages today as part of an Artist’s Way exercise, it struck me that the struggle against ourselves is really all about avoiding our fears.

And from there I saw the massively, insanely clear connection between the ways I struggle with myself and my own life lesson, which is “Trusting my Creativity.”

The same thing is true with ALL the ways I struggle with myself. I struggle with myself around behaviors I wish I wouldn’t do — but they are all just creative blocks in disguise.

Here’s what I mean:

In my own case, a lot of my struggles with myself are around falling into feeling apathetic — a classic creative block. I feel like, “I don’t care,” or “It doesn’t matter,” or “I don’t really want to do it anyway,” so… I get stuck on taking action on my creative dreams.

But what’s really going on when I feel apathetic is that I am actually feeling the raw, naked fear — which to my body feels like a core survival fear — of going into my creativity and seeing what happens.

My fear has a lot of stories about what that might look like. (They aren’t pretty.)

But my heart and spirit have an entirely different story.

(I’m reminded here of my teacher Sonia saying, “Get a new story.”)

The story of my heart and spirit is this:

You are a writer.

You are an artist.

You are here to express yourself creatively and to be received for your creative expression.

You were born to do this.

If you are a creative soul struggling with creative blocks, perhaps you’ll take heart from my Artist’s Way and True Spirit Work inspired affirmation, “I courageously pursue my artistic passions, no matter what, pain, doubt, or terror I might face in the process.”

How Does This Play Out For You?

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • How do you struggle against yourself?
  • What fear are you avoiding facing?
  • What’s the new story you want to be telling yourself?

If you think you might just be in the eensy teensy tiniest bit of struggle against yourself, come and find out what your life lesson is (and your purpose!), once and for all. It’s like having the secret code that will help you unlock and unleash yourself from the inside out. Amen to that, sistah! Join one of my Life Purpose Breakthrough Groups (only one spot left in the Big Vision Group) and get your head on straight with what’s really going on so you can bust yourself on your blocks and get a move on with your Big Dreams. Finally. What a relief! Registration ends May 12th (that’s this Thursday, people).

 

Coming Attractions

~> May 10th, 2011. My Artist’s Way Accountability & Support Group continues. Details.

~>May 26th to May 28th, 2011. Attending Andrea J. Lee’s Wealthy Thought Leader event via simulcast.

~>May 28th, 2011. Next broadcast of my Dreamification Radio show on Radio Lightworker. Details. Listen from anywhere in the world to this Internet radio show.

~>June 9th, 16th, and 23rd, 2011. My brand new Life Purpose Breakthrough Group event series for getting you back on track with what you were put here to do will be happening on June 9th, 16th, and 23rd — but you have to register now (by May 12th). Three groups are available: Intuition & Inner Wisdom, Creativity and Big Vision. Only 4 spots available in each group. Is one of them yours? Find out more here.

 

Filed Under: Creativity, Life Purpose Tagged With: , , ,

Unforseen Consequences

May 6, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Okay, so I sent out an email earlier tonight to those of you on my mailing list about a fun idea I’ve had for a while — giving a prize (a $50 gift certificate) to people who spot me using French phrases in my blog posts.

For whatever reason, I seem to do that with some regularity and I thought it would be a fun game to play.

But, as soon as I sent the message I realized that: 1) I was making a “race” for the first person to get there, 2) encouraging people to not really read my blog post but just skim through it look for a phrase / possibly discouraging people from reading the posts in their entirety, and 3) possibly coming across like I was only trolling for blog comments.

Ugh.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that none of these were my intentions at all — I was really just aiming to have fun, make a game of something I seem to be doing anyway, and reward those of you who are paying attention. :)

I may change the “rules” so that it’s a drawing for people who post the requisite note within 24 hours of the post, or widen it to include responses via Twitter and Facebook. I’m not sure. I may even up the prize amount. But I was excited to give Gina a gift certificate for $50 tonight for spotting one.

Thanks for playing with me, everyone! If you have any fun ideas, let me know.

Jenna

Filed Under: Announcements Tagged With:

Your Precious Time

May 3, 2011 by 14 Comments

I’ve been giving a lot of thought lately to enjoying my life more.

Part of my Life Purpose is to be a Lover of Life — a Venusian goddess of fun, play, delight and savoring. Not something that comes naturally to me.

Instead, I’m more of an all work and no play kind of girl. I easily fall into a more “masculine” approach to my life and my business: I’ve inherited a strong delayed gratification mentality. I push myself hard to get to the outcome I want, delaying rewards. I’m better (there’s always more) at not neglecting the self-care the way I used to, but I don’t get around to the really fun, delicious, Life Savoring that I want to be enjoying. At least not until recently.

In part because of my work with my Artist’s Way Accountability and Support Group and in part because of my own calling in this direction, I’ve been paying close attention to spending my precious time wisely in work or at play.

Here’s what I’ve been putting my focus on, and I’d love to hear how you’re inspired by this and how you decide to use your precious time:

1. Enjoying what I’m actually doing, no matter how simple or mundane.

As an Enneagram Four, it’s all too easy for me to get all dramatic about doing “special” things (you know, grand sweeping gestures and the like) and to poo-poo the ordinary and the mundane.

But those seemingly “little” moments are what add up to the beauty of life — watching my son run around with other kids on the lawn. Folding laundry while listening to my husband read to our little guy. Snuggling up watching a movie together. You know.

2. Prioritizing “Real” Life activities.

As a creative entrepreneur who operates largely in the virtual world (blogging and writing on my computer, speaking with clients by phone or Skype), I’m making a point to emphasize more Real Life experiences too, like spending time in the garden with my hands in the rich soil, creating community experiences in our neighborhood like the fabulous progressive dinner we had over the weekend, or simply sitting in the sunshine on my front porch while holding coaching calls.

3. Turning off the virtual world.

I’m also making a point to unplug more from the iTouch, Twitter, Facebook, and my computer. They are seductively engaging, but I find my time swirling away from me into a vortex of web searches and information indulgences.

4. Taking small daily steps to move me towards my Big Dream rather than looking for single massive actions.

This is a big pitfall for me — I look for giant blocks of time to do one project, but then never QUITE get around to it. I’m learning to take “turtle steps,” as Martha Beck trained coach Jill Winski calls them, consistently. And consistently again.

I received a reminder of this on Twitter via @AdviceToWriters over the weekend from Anthony Trollope (a 19th century novelist):

For me, this includes taking small steps to take care of the business of living, like keeping up with my book keeping and paperwork, as well as the business of living my Life Purpose. That way, I don’t get overwhelmed and feel unable to keep moving ahead with my Big Dream.

5. Choosing a grounded approach.

There’s a lot of conversation around integrating the masculine with the feminine. About being goddesses in our own lives. I agree.

I think it’s also about being grounded in remembering what really matters. For me, that is my inner sense of well-being, my connection with my son, my relationship with my husband, my connections with the communities of people I care about, and fulfilling my Big Dream.

Despite what my mind and ego like to say to the contrary about achieving my Big Dream, it’s not ONLY about “making it happen” or “getting it done.” I want to ENJOY my life along the way, have FUN while I’m doing it, no matter what my current circumstances are — no matter how much money I have or don’t have, no matter how much sleep I’m getting or not getting, no matter how many clients I have or don’t have, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

How are you spending your precious time?

I’d love it if you’d share with me the most powerful way this article has inspired you to think about enjoying YOUR precious time.

 

Coming Attractions

~> May 3rd, 2011. My Artist’s Way Accountability & Support Group continues. Details.

~>June 9th, 16th, and 23rd, 2011. Mark your calendar! My brand new Life Purpose Breakthrough Group event series for getting you back on track with what you were put here to do will be happening on June 9th, 16th, and 23rd — only 4 spots available in each group. Find out more here. Three groups are available: Intuition & Inner Wisdom, Creativity and Big Vision. Which one is yours?

~>May 26th to May 28th, 2011. Attending Andrea J. Lee’s Wealthy Thought Leader event via simulcast.

~>May 28th, 2011. Next broadcast of my Dreamification Radio show on Radio Lightworker. Details. Listen from anywhere in the world to this Internet radio show.

Filed Under: Getting Stuff Done, Loving Life, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Resistance Is Futile

April 26, 2011 by 4 Comments

Resistance is swirling all around us this week.

Are You Resisting Success?

Danielle LaPorte recently posted a powerful article called “How to Resist Success” on her blog about how we self-sabotage to avoid success.

In it, she quoted Steven Pressfield, one of my heros and the author of The War of Art, from his new book Do The Work: “The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.” (Great news — you can get the Kindle version of his new book for free for a limited time.)

All the more reason to go for it, n’est-ce pas?

How to Choose Which Idea to Pursue First

I also spotted Marie Forleo’s online video interview with Steven Pressfield. My favorite piece of advice from him was about how to choose which one of your ideas to pursue first: The one that scares you the most.

The Many, Many Forms of Resistance

Then today as I was preparing for my Artist’s Way Accountability and Support Group, and reading “Week 8: Recovering a Sense of Strength” in The Artist’s Way, I found the concept of Resistance coming up big time. Julia Cameron talks about the creative blocks we come up with to avoid our art:

  • I’m too old. (age block)
  • What am I going to get out of it? (finished product block)
  • I’m too busy. (workaholism)
  • I have more important things to do first. (workaholism)
  • I have to overhaul my whole life first. (drama)

Taking Action to Overcome Resistance

Julia makes the point that we must take small, daily, creative actions to accomplish our creative goals rather than looking for one big sweeping gesture. This is one of my biggest pitfalls.

Steven Pressfield makes a similar point about showing up every day, to do the work.

Jennifer Louden says, “Just. Do. The. Writing.”

Sonia Choquette taught us, “Suit up. Shut up. Show Up.” (I’m fairly certain she attributes this teaching to Julia Cameron herself.)

What To Do With All This

At the end of our session today, we outlined our Secret [Big] Dreams. “In a perfect world, I would secretly love to be a ______________.” My answer: A published author.

Then we identified our “true north” for that dream — the how-you-know-when-you-get-there goal. Mine: A real physical book published with a core group 0f raving fans.

We picked a mentor for that dream. (Mine: Steven Pressfield. Seems obvious!)

Then we identified a 5 year vision and a 1 year action plan. My one year action plan looked like this: Write regularly. Get clear on what to focus on.

So I asked myself, “Of all my ideas, what would scare me the most?” The answer: A creativity book. (Holy shit, Batman.)

My participants asked why — my “Who do I think I am?” stories come up fast. But I’m ready to go there anyway. So now I know what my book is about, and I can get to work on it along with my screenplay (which I’ve been working on this week, hurrah!). Yowza.

What’s your secret Big Dream?

I’d love it if you’d share it with me, and the action you can take TODAY to move toward it. Mine: Writing this blog post.

 

 

Coming Up

~> May 3rd, 2011. My Artist’s Way Accountability & Support Group continues. Details.

~>May 26th, 2011. Mark your calendar! My brand new event for getting you back on track with what you were put here to do will be happening on May 26th — only 4 spots available. Stay tuned for details.

~>May 28th, 2011. Next broadcast of my Dreamification Radio show on Radio Lightworker. Details. Listen from anywhere in the world to this Internet radio show.

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