Writers, This Is For You

September 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Whether you’re a novelist, screenwriter, poet, singer-songwriter, playwright, or sci fi maven, you know that getting your butt in the seat and getting your writing done isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

But you also know that if you don’t make your writing happen, you will have left your life’s great work undone.

I’ve been writing professionally for the last 9 years as a coach, and I’m now developing my creative writing abilities as well. I know what it takes to get my writing done, and I’ve created a number of supports, including my new Writer’s Circle, to help you claim your dream of being a writer or get back on the horse as a writer to contend with.

In honor of the official grand opening of my Writer’s Circle, which opens to the public on Tuesday, October 4th after our initial beta test run, I’m publishing a free writing tips series called “How to Stop Making Excuses and Start Writing.”

If you’re ready to get on with your writing, sign up now to receive my Free Tips Series at https://calledtowrite.com/free-writing-tips

Filed Under: Creativity, Productivity, Writing Tagged With: , , , ,

The Dreaded ‘D’-Word

September 14, 2011 by 5 Comments

Lately I’ve been talking a lot with my very right-brained, creative, multi-passionate, multi-talented clients and cohorts about the “D”-word.

Yeah, that’s right.

Discipline.

It’s enough to make an artist cower in terror behind legions of excuses and doubts or pipe up with even a little disdain.

(I’m an artist, I like to go with the flow / wait for the right mood to strike / follow the energy / be divinely inspired.)

(Not that there’s really anything wrong with that. As an intuitive, an empath, and a Four, I can relate to ALL of that, and I don’t even think it’s “wrong” per se.)

But the thing is, when it comes to getting our creative work out into the world, we often go to sleep on ourselves instead of doing the work to make it happen.

We go to sleep on those deeper-yet-oh-so-slippery truths that tell us what we need to do our best work.

We forget.

We get busy with other things.

We wait for something that never comes.

Is Discipline Really the Enemy?

It never ceases to astonish me how little actual discipline is practiced when it comes to doing the hard work of creating our stuff.

And by hard, I don’t mean Hard. I mean HARD.

The kind of hard that keeps you massively resisting showing up to your writing or your canvas or your practice development, even when you don’t even realize it (we’ll save the other D-word conversation for another day).

You think you’re too busy, you need to make more money first, or your kids need too much of your attention.

Ha!

The truth is, you need to make a commitment to get your Butt In Your Seat and show up to the creative Big Dream you know you are here to fulfill.

There is simply No Other Way it is going to happen.

One thing we do know is that the artists who take regular action to see their work through to completion are the ones who quietly make it happen.

Here’s the funny thing about all of this.

You don’t need to force yourself to make big, giant, rigid commitments of time and energy to make your work happen.

It’s much simpler than that.

Make discipline your friend and ally.

Just commit to taking regular, consistent, and small steps and you’ll move forward in a sustainable way to seeing your dream become a reality.

Inspiration From Seth Godin:

“While you and I have been busy running down dead ends and wasting our effort, scientists have been busy trying to figure out what actually works. And they know how:

  •     Small steps work.
  •     Consistent effort works.
  •     Group support works.

That’s it. Three things. Set a goal, and in small, consistent steps, work to reach it. Get support from your peers when you start flagging. Repeat.

You will change.” 

Your Turn

For me this looks like screenwriting every weekday for a minimum of 15 minutes and reporting in about it to my Writer’s Circle group.

What does it look like for you?

I’d love to hear from you.

 

Jenna

 

Coming Attractions

~> October 6th. The next session of my Writer’s Circle accountability system starts. Stay tuned for details about how you can participate.

~> November 10th. My next Life Purpose Breakthrough ‘Big Vision’ Group. Details. Only 3 spots remaining.

 


~> This Thursday. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey. We’re closing in on completion!

~> FRIDAYS & now morning times too. Sacred writing time. The Do Not Disturb sign is up.

 

 

Filed Under: Creativity, Getting Stuff Done, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Sustaining Your Energy & Creativity

September 7, 2011 by 6 Comments

As a highly driven and highly creative person, I work hard.

I push myself, and I put in long hours, even when I know better.

As a highly sensitive person, I have learned to set limits — I don’t work weekends and try to keep evenings to a minimum, though that has been a bit slippery lately.

Although I aim for balance, I still get more tired than I want to, especially considering all the ambitions I have (quality time with my family, traveling, finishing my script, writing a book, doing my personal spiritual work, reading more, having alone time, connecting with my husband, gardening, sewing, keeping up with the house, papers & chores, spending time with friends, cooking, learning to paint, etc.).

I’ve done some great work with organizer Miriam Ortiz y Pino on creating time blocks in my schedule and my coach Isabel Parlett has helped me focus on putting first things first and creating powerful sacred writing time in my schedule.

It’s been so helpful and amazing!

But still. I know I want to feel better about all the wonderful things I’m doing and enjoy them more.

Keeping the Creative Well Full

As I’ve gotten my brand spankin’ new Writer’s Circle going just this week, I’ve been reminded of the importance of keeping the creative channels flowing and open.

I’ve learned from Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, to aim to fill my “creative well” to overflowing, but I’ve never fully embraced the concept of artist dates, which is a primary tool for doing so along with great self-care. Though I love the idea in theory, I still find myself in a high level of resistance to seeing them through (a project for another day, perhaps).

How to Be Excellent — & Productive — At Anything

What I’ve been delighted with lately is a series of new insights I’m gleaning from Todd Henry’s new book, The Accidental Creative.

He makes a series of brilliant points that my obligation-pitfall / Life School of Service brain really needs to hear.

He quotes Tony Schwartz from his book How to Be Excellent at Anything:

“The real issue is not the number of hours we sit behind a desk but the energy we bring to the work we do and the value we generate as a result. A growing body of research suggests that we’re most productive when we move between periods of high focus and intermittent rest. Instead, we live in a gray zone, constantly juggling activities but rarely fully engaging in any of them — or fully disengaging from any of them. The consequence is that we settle for a pale version of the possible.”

It’s Really All About Effectiveness, Not Efficiency

Todd Henry goes on to say:

“What Schwartz articulates so well is that even if we effectively manage our time and resources, but neglect our energy level, our effectiveness will decrease over time. Today’s success begets tomorrow’s success, so for the creative worker, when you lack the energy to generate ideas today, it takes a toll on tomorrow’s creative effectiveness. The longer the energy drain continues, the more you dig yourself into a hole.”

Ah Ha!

For my beleaguered creative brain, this is like a giant light bulb and a big “Duh” going off in my head all at the same time.

For me, not only does it remind me to call into question the truly insane work ethics of most creative and design related professions (70 hour work-weeks anyone?), it also has me asking about the sustainability of our standard work habits in a whole new way (never taking breaks, cramming as much into the day as possible, staying at your desk for hours on end, etc.)

Antidotes

For my Writer’s Circle, we’re working with a method of “writing sprints” or writing sessions, where we work for no more than 45 minute sessions before taking a break to do something enjoyable and/or renewing, like stretching, sitting in the sunshine, having a treat of some kind, or goofing off (consciously and deliberately) on the internet. So far so good.

The idea is to be able to do sustainable creative work in the long term.

Doesn’t that sound delicious?

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about this subject:

  • What thoughts does this inspire for you?
  • How do you build sustainability into your life?
  • Have you ever felt creatively burnt out? How did you recover?

Jenna

 

Coming Attractions

~> September 6th. Beta-testing my Writer’s Circle accountability system with a select group. Stay tuned for how you can participate next month, starting October 6th.

~> November 10th. My next Life Purpose Breakthrough ‘Big Vision’ Group. Details. Only 3 spots remaining.

 


~> This weekend. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

~> FRIDAYS & now morning times too. Sacred writing days. The Do Not Disturb sign is up.

 

 

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

Sensitivity 3.0

August 10, 2011 by 9 Comments

I’ve worked with highly sensitive souls since I started my coaching practice in 2002. As I evolve, and as we evolve as a tribe of sensitive people, I see more for us than I was able to see before.

I began with one model — let’s call it Sensitivity 2.0 — and now my approach has evolved to a new one — let’s call it Sensitivity 3.0.

Sensitivity 2.0

In the Sensitivity 2.0 model, my focus was on helping sensitives move from a place of struggling with being highly sensitive to thriving with it, essentially learning how to “deal” with being highly sensitive in a not-so-sensitive world.

This has been tremendously important work, in my humble opinion, because I’ve seen so many people move from being frustrated, embarrassed, and deeply unhappy with themselves to feeling uplifted and inspired by their own abilities and their own innate gifts.

My mission statement throughout that time was to “help people find a deep sense of inner rightness so that everything else would just drop away, and they would feel inspired to step forward and shine.”

In the end, much of my deepest work was and will continue to be about that deep sense of inner rightness.

And there’s more…

Sensitivity 3.0

In the new Sensitivity 3.0 model, I want to help you step your dreams up into the next level of their expression.

It’s time to say, “Okay, so we’re sensitive, now that we know how to manage that, what’s next?”

My new mission is to help you “upgrade” from the Sensitivity 2.0 model to Sensitivity 3.0, where not only are you thriving as a sensitive person, you are also getting your deep work into the world.

I want you to bring that powerful, deep art, message or movement you have out and share it with your audience, no matter what pain, ecstasy, doubt, joy, terror, or delicious dilemma you experience in the process.

The world’s deepest hunger is waiting to be fed by your deep gladness, to paraphrase theologian Frederick Buechner.

And I want to help you get there.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about this subject:

  • How have you evolved with your sensitivity?
  • What’s next for you?
  • Where do you see us going as a “tribe”?

Jenna

 

Coming Attractions

~> August. Doing Creative Destiny Assessments with visionary creatives ready to claim their creative destiny. Interested? Email me here to request a session.

~> September 6th. Beta-testing my new writer’s accountability system with a select group. Want to participate? Email me here to request the details.

~> September 29th. My next Life Purpose Breakthrough ‘Big Vision’ Group. Details. Only 4 spots available.

 


~> Alternate MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

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

~> Vacationing with my family in August (at least part of it!).

 

 

Filed Under: Sensitivity, Vision Tagged With: , , , , , ,

How To Find The Answer and Get Unstuck

August 2, 2011 by 6 Comments

What do you do when you have a project you need to make progress on but you don’t know how to “solve” part of it, and you are stuck.

From stuck it’s a quick trip to procrastination land.

For Instance:

  • Let’s say you’re writing a story and you don’t know where to take the characters because you don’t know what the final outcome is. So you put it off until you can figure it out or feel divinely inspired with the solution.
  • Or let’s say you have a proposal to write for a client and you’ve been procrastinating on taking action on it because you don’t know how to package or price it yet.
  • Or maybe, you have a new program you want to offer but you don’t know what to include in it or how it will all fit together. So you feel like you can’t get started.

The Good News & Not So Good News

All that wondering is good fodder, actually. It means your brain is turning over the problem and looking for a solution.

That’s the good news.

The less good news is that without some kind of concerted effort on your part, actually getting to that answer will likely remain evasive.

Here’s What You Can Do Instead

Sit down, take out the Thing (whatever it is) and get to work on it.

  • Write out as much of it as you know.
  • Or, start with a rough draft or a previous similar project that you can base it on.
  • Or, get out a blank sheet of paper and doodle down everything you can think of.

Start giving it form and going through the steps of designing it even if you don’t know what the final outcome will be.

Commit to the Exploration

And very often, the answer to that missing piece or missing pieces will emerge, simply as a result of committing to the exploration and getting as far as you can.

No Dice? Get Help

If the answer does not come, ask this question, “Who or what can help me answer this question?”

And then ask for that help.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about this subject:

  • How do you get yourself unstuck?
  • Let’s save stories about you never get stuck for another day. :)

Jenna

 

Coming Attractions

~> August. Doing Creative Destiny Assessments with visionary creatives ready to claim their creative destiny. Interested? Email me here to request a session.

~> August 4th. My next Life Purpose Breakthrough ‘Big Vision’ Group. SOLD OUT. Details. If you’re interested in the next group (September 29th), email my team here and we’ll add you to the waiting list.

~> September. Beta-testing my new writer’s accountability system with a select group. Stay tuned for more info.

 


~> Alternate MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

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

~> Vacationing with my family in August (at least part of it!).

 

 

Filed Under: Creativity, Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Creative Inspiration vs. Creative Resistance

July 27, 2011 by 5 Comments

Is it necessary to be “creatively inspired” before pursuing creative projects, or is waiting for creative inspiration a pitfall that trips us up?

Another way of saying this is: Do you have to be in the ‘right mood’ or ‘right energy’ in order to be creative?

Steven Pressfield would call this “resistance,” and say instead that what we need to do is show up and “do the work” no matter what pain, doubt, terror, or mood we might encounter in the process.

There’s more on this subject in my article, “Resistance is Futile.”

My experience is that often when I think I “can’t” create, and I do it anyway, the act of engaging with my art puts me in a whole new energy state, usually one that is more uplifted and inspired.

Other times, when I’m really stuck in my thinking or in a bad mood (yes, me too), I can jolt myself out of it by wondering about creative solutions, which puts me in a more resourceful creative state.

It seems like if I ask the right question, like, “I wonder how I could make my character more convincing as a tough, surly broad?” :) or “I wonder how I could make contact with the sci fi filmmakers?” all kinds of new answers start flowing to me.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about any or all of these:

  • Do you wait for inspiration to strike when it comes to your creative projects?
  • Do you know how to draw on your inspiration at will (and if so, how do you do it)?
  • Or do you get your butt in seat and start writing (or whatever your artistic equivalent is)?

 

Coming Attractions

~> July & August. Doing Creative Destiny Assessments with visionary creatives ready to claim their creative destiny. Interested? Email me here to request a session.

~> August 4th. My next Life Purpose Breakthrough ‘Big Vision’ Group. SOLD OUT. Details. If you’re interested in the next group (probably in September), email my team here and we’ll add you to the list.

~> September. Beta-testing my new writer’s accountability system with a select group and offering Life Purpose Coaching Groups. Stay tuned for more info.

 


~> MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

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

~> Vacationing with my family in August (at least part of it!).

Filed Under: Creativity Tagged With: , ,

When “One Size Fits All” Doesn’t Fit For You

July 13, 2011 by 4 Comments

If you’re an artistic type — a writer, painter, poet, songwriter — an empathic, spiritual healer type, or a scanner with lots of passions and interests, you’re not one who’s likely to thrive with a “one size fits all” approach to developing yourself and your work in the world.

Personally, I’ve found that as an artistic, empathic, sensitive, creative being, I do best when I have the opportunity to work with a coach or mentor who will find ways to work with me rather than expecting me to fit inside a specific box or program.

There are so many opportunities out there right to grow and develop your work, it can be overwhelming to decide how to invest your precious time, energy, and money.

Here are a few suggestions I’ll make:

  • Look for people to work with that you admire on a deep level. It’s easy to be swept up in the glamor of what people SAY they are doing. Use your intuitive radar to look beneath the surface to look for a match on integrity, honesty, commitment, and forthrightness in the people you choose to work with as well as looking at what their previous customers have to say about them.
  • Look for mentors who “get” you. There’s nothing more important than working with someone who understands you, what makes you tick, and your vision as much as possible. For me, that looks like working with a mentor who understands what it’s like to be highly sensitive and empathic, who truly likes me and what I stand for, and who “gets” what it’s like to be bright and creative with a million ideas a minute.
  • Look for mentors with expertise and a proven track record in what you are wanting to accomplish. You’ll have a much better chance of success when you work with someone who has been where you want to go. Your mentor only needs to be a few key steps ahead of you to make a valuable difference in what you are up to.
  • Invest at a level that is high enough to motivate you into action but not so high that you put yourself and your future in jeopardy. I’ve seen so many of my colleagues and friends over-invest in high level programs that don’t pay off as fast as they hoped they would, and while some will tell you that investing highly can stretch you into playing a bigger game, it can also be paralyzing if the investment is too out of reach for you financially. Also keep in mind the long term value of the investment in your life as you make a decision.
  • If you work privately at a higher level with someone, choose a mentor who will craft a custom-designed process or program for you that addresses your specific concerns and challenges in a way that feels accurately and highly aligned with what you are facing. Especially at a high-level, “one size fits all” is rarely the right strategy. We are all at different points along the path to our creative destiny so it doesn’t make sense to start at the same place as everyone else.
  • If you choose to work with someone in a group program for cost reasons, make the point to choose a mentor you have a strong resonance with and who has their feet on the ground, not with someone who is promising you the stars. Look for carefully selected groups that kick off with everyone being at about the same starting point.
  • Be willing to dig deep. It’s easy to want to jump to implementation (as I know all too well!), but spending time on the essence and deep think of what you are doing will save you time in the long run. Choose mentors who will go deep with you, hold you to that deeper truth and the big vision, as well as support you to put in the elbow grease and take the nitty-gritty, practical implementation actions to see it through to the end.
  • Last, don’t invest in anything unless you are seriously committed to making it happen. Spending the money does NOT guarantee the results. It won’t do a lick of good if you don’t have the time, energy, and discipline to see it through.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What this sparks for you?
  • How can you apply this in your own life?

 

Coming Attractions

~> July & August. Doing Creative Destiny Assessments with visionary creatives ready to claim their creative destiny. Details coming soon.

~> August 4th. My next Life Purpose Breakthrough ‘Big Vision’ Group. There’s ONE spot left. Details. If you’re interested in the next group (probably in September), email my team here and we’ll add you to the list.

~> September. Beta-testing my new writer’s accountability system with a select group. Stay tuned for more info.

 


~> MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning with my buddy Kris Carey.

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

~> Daydreaming about going to Comic-Con next week and getting an autograph from Nathan Fillion. #imsuchageek

~> Re-reading the entire Song of Fire and Ice series by George R. R. Martin so I’ll remember what the heck is going on when I get to “A Dance With Dragons” (can’t wait).

~> Vacationing with my family in August (at least part of it!).

 

 

Filed Under: Creativity, Getting Stuff Done, Productivity Tagged With: , , , , , ,

It Starts With Who You Are

June 15, 2011 by 4 Comments

Doing something — anything — successfully in the world requires a solid foundation.

What is that foundation?

It’s you.

It’s being clear on who you are, what you do, and why you are doing it.

I’ve been chatting with some of my favorite coach friends and mentors and I’m noticing a trend, at least among the tribe of deep thinkers I hang out with.

I see that out in the world so much of the focus is on how you get stuff done (which I love, don’t get me wrong) and how to have a plug-and-play business or project or widget (not so much), but there isn’t much of a focus on WHO you are, WHAT you care about, and WHY you are doing what you are doing (which I love even more). The focus instead is on how much money you can you make and how fast can you make it, or other more practical, surface level implementation tools.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

But unless you have the foundation in place, unless you’ve claimed your identity and know who you are and who you want to be, all the implementation and practical tools in the world will not serve you.

It starts with who you are.

Hear more on this subject on my upcoming Dreamification Radio broadcast this Saturday, June 18th on claiming your creative identity.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you about:

  • What this sparks for you
  • What’s the creative identity that YOU are ready to claim?

Coming Attractions

~> June 16th and 23rd. My Life Purpose Breakthrough series continues. Details.

~> June 18th. Next Dreamification Radio broadcast. Details.

~> 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.

 


~> MONDAYS. Right Brain Business Planning 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: Creativity, Getting Stuff Done, Productivity 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.

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