Hi all creatives!
I hope you are ready for another month of creativity!
We’ve just finished Creative Summer. It’s been a blast to work on this and share the fun of creating with all of you. Thank you for your stories you’ve sent me!
I hope it’s been a productive time for you and most importantly, I hope you’ve learned something about yourself and your own creativity. These are the things that you carry on to your new creative adventures.
I’ve had the chance to learn about sticking with something even in the middle when the doldrums kick in, It’s here where the eagerness of the start is gone and the burn for the finish hasn’t kicked in yet.
These are the times that really challenge commitment and desire. They are great opportunities to dig in and learn how to create a new excitement every day. It is its own kind of work and needs creativity as well. I face this over and over, even for projects that I really want to do.
This summer tested me. I had a whole list of different kinds of projects I wanted to work on. I didn’t make it very far are that list at all. Except one thing.
I really wanted to keep this Creative Summer going. I didn’t want to fall off or give up. The middle is when my energy flagged. I really had to push myself to stick it out.
So my own Creative Summer was an extremely so start. I went deep down to get my own energy burning higher. The creative fire is always there, in me, in you, and all of us. We have to nourish it in those dull periods.
So how do you manage to do this? What strategies do you have to coax your flame back to life?
Here are a few of mine I lean on in these times.
I tell myself I want to create
I know that I have to convince myself I want to do something. I have to get myself to believe it, so I say it over and over and add some emotion too. It doesn’t take that long before I’m convinced.
I start with tiny steps
And I do mean tiny. They can be the smallest of steps. Gathering a few materials. Spending just 5 minutes working on something. Thinking about what I want to do next when I step away.
Come back the next day
After I have made one tiny step, I make sure to come back the next day for another tiny step. Even another 5 minutes. And then I come back again and again. It doesn’t take that long before it starts to feel like a part of my day and I automatically want to continue.
I tell myself it’s going to be fun and that I will learn
Fun and learning are two of my highest values, so I start there with what I tell myself. I say it over and over. Building this excitement always works for me. You may have different values, and you can use them to get yourself into action again.
What happens if something isn’t “fun”? Then I try to reframe the experience and look for what is enjoyable.
I imagine how it will be if I don’t follow through
This is a new technique for me and it works well too. When I imagine what happens if I don’t take action on what I want or need to do, it troubles me enough to get me to carry myself through because I don’t usually like what I see.
Practice Practice Practice
Like anything it all comes down to practice and training. Even knowing how to motivate yourself through the middle. It most certainly can be done and you can learn to do it easily by developing the right strategies.
Maybe mine can give you a hand here, if not, then find some that work for you. It will give you a boost when you really need it. And hopefully make it easier to follow through on your creative projects and practices.
Keep on creating and stay with us as we look for ideas and new strategies that helps us get where we want to go.
