Are You a Self-Improvement Junkie?

“Meditation is all about the pursuit of nothingness. It’s like the ultimate rest. It’s better than the best sleep you’ve ever had. It’s a quieting of the mind. It sharpens everything, especially your appreciation of your surroundings. It keeps life fresh.” – Hugh Jackman

Yesterday it occurred to me that it’s been a very long time, months perhaps, since I actually relaxed. And by “relaxed” I mean not thinking about or moving toward any self-improvement or personal development goal.

This kind of shocked me so I gave it some deeper thought. I must have recently done something just for fun. Right? Something that had nothing to do with goals, building skills or working toward them. Something quieting.

It only took me a minute or two to come up with a few of my favorite downtime activities. Things like: walking, biking, gardening, and watching a little TV. So I can relax, after all!
I’ll admit, though, it did have me worried. What kind of person can’t relax? Goals and aspirations are important for sure, and going after your dreams takes work, but there has to be some limits.

Then, I thought about a bike ride I had taken a few days ago. Even though I had enjoyed the ride immensely, I had stopped more than once to jot down an idea or two. Okay, maybe I didn’t relax totally on the bike ride.

How about the week before that? I spent the afternoon in my garden. That’s relaxing, right? And gardening has absolutely nothing to do with any of my self-improvement goals. Chalk that one up to team relaxation!

But the truth is, I spent most of the afternoon feeling guilty about not working on my novel. Okay…

What about chilling out in front of the television? That’s an easy one: I sat down to watch my favorite show just last night.

But wait… I missed the middle of the show because I got the idea for this article and had to scribble it down.

To be honest, I haven’t really relaxed for a long time—not fully, anyway. I have been so wrapped up in achieving my writing goals that I didn’t even realize just how hard I’ve been working.

Hmmm? Is it possible that I’m addicted—to my goal of becoming a full-time writer?

And is this such a bad thing? After all, if you really want something, don’t you have to go after it with all you’ve got? All your heart? All your soul?

Maybe? But, I think some of us on the “personal development” train have swapped the idea of focus and being present for something else.

In recent years, a new high-energy approach to personal development has evolved—one built on ambition and motivation. It is a high-octane, super-charged approach that demands a tremendous amount of energy. This spiritual practice takes individuals to extreme limits as they are expected to “live their ambition 24/7”, revving up energy to unnatural levels.

I’ll admit, this approach is very intoxicating because of how it makes you feel. It’s kind of like getting psyched-up for a big game. It makes you feel alive. It also gives you an overwhelming sense of accomplishment as you focus on the goal with a laser-sharp intensity. You know: “Eye of the tiger” stuff.

But, the downside to this approach is that it can easily monopolize, if not highjack your life. In a word, it’s addictive.

In time, it can even burn you out, as you desperately try to maintain the crazy energy levels required. In a very real way, you become hooked on the idea of chasing after your dreams rather than actually living them.

And herein lays the problem. Because all things ebb and flow, the pendulum WILL eventually swing back giving you a serious case of the “self-improvement jitters”. This happens because, the more intense you get, the harder it is for you to relax when the energy eventually dissipates. When this happens, you will feel the need to take a break—physically and spiritually, but won’t be able to—not fully, anyway.

That’s where I am right now. I currently find it very difficult to relax and take a true break. I’m always doing something involved with writing. Whether it’s a blog post, one of my three upcoming books or my novel, I’m always writing or thinking about writing.

Don’t misunderstand me. I love writing.

So what’s the problem, you might ask? If you’re doing what you love, isn’t that a good thing? Yes and no.

When I do try to take a break, my conditioning won’t allow me to. Guilt and anxiety usually force me back into “work mode” or “achievement mode”. The simple things in life can no longer be enjoyed, freely and completely.

Plus there is a very real spiritual concept that talks about the need to “release”. You may have heard the term: “Let go and let God”. If we are constantly grasping, chasing and striving, we never let go. And without “release” there can be no creation—no realization of the dream.

It is these “down times” between the work that act as a kind of spiritual release. It helps us to rebound, and regroup.

Wayne Dyer calls this “The Gap”. The space between. The silence. It is in these quiet moments of release where the magic really happens and we can’t get there if we never allow ourselves to come down—to relax and go into silence.

Without these downtimes, a person can become spiritually hyperactive and ultimately spiritually unproductive.

So, how can we tell if are addicted to self-improvement? Watch for these symptoms:

1) Anxiety
Do you feel uneasy when you take a break or do something other than a goal-related activity?

2) Guilt
Do you feel guilty if you take any sort of break?

3) Overly Self-critical
When you do take that much needed break, does anxiety and guilt distort your self-image? Have you ever seen yourself as lazy or (heaven forbid) unmotivated just for taking a break? Perhaps unworthy to receive the goal because of it?

4) Time Distorts
Do breaks and relaxation cause you to imagine that time is running out for you and your goal? Do you think that you are wasting time? As a result, do you amp up your efforts and work even harder?

5) Over-compensation
Once the break is over, have you ever doubled your efforts to “make-up” for lost time, almost like a self-imposed punishment?

Yes?

If you’re like me and have one or more of the above symptoms what can we do?

1) Give yourself permission to relax.
You don’t need to focus and concentrate on your goals constantly. Such an approach is not only unhealthy, but counterproductive. Release is perhaps the most important part of the creation process (speaking from a spiritual perspective.)

2) Set a clear intention to relax.
Say something like “I’m going to set aside the next hour to go for a walk—or whatever.” During that time, make sure you stay completely present. If you are going for a walk then go for a walk. Be with that activity in a full and “present” way. Enjoy it completely without thinking about anything else—including your goals.

3) Seek out silence.
Clear your thinking. Meditate every once and while. There’s nothing quite like meditation to ease a hyper-active mind. (It’s something I’m going to do more often.)

4) Detach from outcome.
For a short while, loosen your grip on your goal. Approach your goals with a light touch. It’s the striving and grasping that ultimately pushes our dreams away. Let it happen. Work towards those goals that truly resonate with you. Do what you do, because you love doing it—not to achieve something or to get something out of it.

That being said, I think it’s time for a break—a real one. Maybe I’ll go for a long bike ride in the park. And I won’t take my writing pad—I promise.

Thanks for visiting.

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Thanks.
Troy

Is Absolute Thinking Stressing You Out & Killing Your Creativity?

“An absolute thought slams the door on creativity.” –Troy P. Roache

Sometimes Taking the Middle Approach is the Less Stressful and the Most Creative. 

For years I believed moderate thinking equaled a weak stance or being just a bit too wishy-washy. I thought in terms of “right or wrong”, “yes or no”, “white or black” and “all-or-nothing”. It was like I had been programed in binary code.

My studies in personal development and spirituality has since softened my personality, however. And happily! Now, I get more done and in a healthier way.

Those with an absolute mindset (I call them Absoluters) tend to be far too hard on themselves—and those around them. They see the world through the limited lens of extreme attitudes and opinions that excludes a near infinite range of possibilities, solutions and viewpoints. Its pure creative suicide, plain and simple.

Still, there are many people who actually believe that this way of thinking is useful and healthy. They argue that such thinking promotes decisiveness, speed, success and even self-esteem. “Make a decision, defend it at all costs and don’t let anyone change your mind.” These Absoluters see it as punching through all the useless stuff, getting them right to the meat of an issue—kind of like trimming the proverbial fat. The problem is that a lot more than fat gets cut away in the process—namely creativity.

Creativity basically ends for the Absoluter with the initial idea or decision. It has nowhere to grow because it is never given the opportunity to do so.

Absoluters tend to be stubborn and rigid. They may even look down upon and criticize those who use a moderate approach.

Just because you are among those who tend to take the middle road, (we’ll call them Middlewayers) you shouldn’t be labeled as a pushover; somebody whose mind can be changed by the faintest breeze. Just the opposite, in fact.

Middlewayers understand the creative process is just that—a process. It evolves and changes as new information is collected and assessed. They are open to exciting new possibilities, even if those revelations contradict the ideas that came before it. Here, creativity is allowed to thrive and grow in unexpected ways.

There is little resistance or stress in this way of thinking because a Middlewayer feels no need to defend anything. They have faith in the creative process. They allow intuition, inspiration and brainstorming to shape the work.

Here are five ways how absolute thinking negatively impacts us:

Absolute Thinking Sets Us Up for Failure

1) It opens us up to defeat.

An Absoluter has a difficult time seeing anything in degrees. When something goes wrong he is quick to toss the whole project out, seeing it as flawed. “This doesn’t work!” “It’s stupid!” “What a terrible idea.” When in reality it may be a perfectly good idea that is merely in the early stages of development.

2) It opens us up to self-criticism.

If something isn’t working, an Absoluter will often turn inward, blaming herself for the failure. “I’m stupid.” “I’m not smart enough.” “What was I thinking? I can’t do this.” This most certainly ends the project as she surrenders to her imagined limitations and shortcomings.

3) It causes pain.

Absolute thinking causes pain and suffering for those people who engage in an all-or-nothing attitudes because the person is often confronted with ideas and concepts that counter his beliefs, which threatens his view and imagined security.

Absolute Thinking Causes Us to Misdirect Blame

4) It causes us to misdirect blame.

The Absoluter not only blames the project and himself, but also everybody around him. It’s like he has backed himself into a corner by his own rigidity and when something doesn’t work out, he is threatened comes out swinging.

5) It narrows and limits us.

If we only see one (absolute) solution to a creative problem, we close the doors to all the amazing possibilities just waiting to be discovered. Had Thomas Edison taken an absolute approach and quit after his first failed attempt to invent the light bulb you might be reading this article by candlelight. In fact, it is said that it took Edison 1000 attempts to create a working light bulb. When asked by a reporter how he felt about failing 1000 times before getting it right, Edison allegedly said, “I have not failed 1,000 times. I have successfully discovered 1,000 ways to NOT make a light bulb.”

6) It makes us inflexible.

Absolute thinking is inflexible thinking—inflexible things break at the first sign of problems or resistance. The ancient Tao says: “The soft shall overcome the hard.” The palm tree bends with the wind. It does not try to stand against it in a show of strength, but bows—as if in subjection. As a result it weathers the storm. Likewise, any creative endeavor can’t survive the creative process if it is too rigid.

So if I’ve convinced you that absolute thinking is one big creative block, waiting to happen, what can you do if this is how you think?

Do what I did—change.

Start becoming more aware of your thinking. Is it inflexible? Limited? Does it include or exclude? What is the tone? Does it take an all-or-nothing kind of approach? Is it blaming or critical? Is it extreme in anyway?

Then make small changes to bring your thinking more to the middle road.

Try taking somebody else’s opinion. Instead of deciding “this or that”, try “this”, “that” and “the other thing”.

Don’t see failure as a negative. It is simply part of the ongoing creative process which you are a part of.

Don’t immediately criticize yourself, others or the idea when something doesn’t work.

And lastly: be open.

Try it. Every small change you make will open the door to happiness and creativity a little wider.

Thanks for visiting.  Why not come up with three ways to take a more flexible and creative approach to life? Try them out tomorrow. Let me know how it works out for you.

How to Recognize Your Inner Critic

I’ve always been my worst critic.

As a recovering perfectionist, self-doubt and the compulsion to revise unnecessarily was a crippling problem. For me, my work had to be perfect and my inner critic had no qualms about letting me know when it wasn’t.

We all have that inner voice offering up criticism, whether we want it or not.

The good news is that this voice can be quieted by the more useful and beneficial voice of reason. When the voice of reason is allowed to shine we get helpful critiques that improve our work and let us grow and evolve as artists and creators—instead of being subjected to all those useless and damaging criticisms.

Ironically, the inner critic’s voice is the one we listen to most often. This is because we are conditioned to expect the worst of situations and of ourselves—primarily as a protection mechanism. We don’t want to get hurt, or disappointed. And the inner critic works overtime pointing out our perceived limitations to make sure we don’t wander into dangerous territory.

In a way, even though there are two separate voices at play here, it’s really only our internal dialogue oscillating between the positive and the negative.

Our internal dialogue is kind of like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: helpful and comforting one minute, critical and hurtful the next.

So it is vitally important to know which voice is speaking. Jekyll or Hyde? How can we tell the difference?

Let’s look at the Hyde Voice—the Inner Critic

1) This Voice is Overly Critical

The Hyde voice speaks in a very absolute, black and white, kind of way. It says things like: “That sucks!” “It’s all wrong!” “It’s boring.” It makes sweeping, all-or-nothing criticisms.

 2) This Voice Gets Personal

Criticisms escalate and migrate into personal attacks. No longer about the work, the voice starts to target you, the person. “I suck!” “I don’t have an ounce of talent.” “I’ll never make it.” “Quit.” Sound familiar? The creatively inclined can be very hard on ourselves. We often measure our self-worth by our abilities and accomplishments. When, in reality, one has nothing to do with the other.

3) This Voice is Unhelpful

The Hyde voice just spits out its bile without ever suggesting any improvements, fixes or solutions. It goes on like a broken record saying the same things over and over. And still, we listen and take these things to heart.

4) This Voice is Unreliable

It lies—plain and simple. Most of what this voice says are fabricated, made-up stories. Untrue. The work is never all bad. Nothing completely sucks. And your worth has nothing to do with whether or not you reach your creative goals.
It exaggerates our failures, embarrassments and flaws. It remembers all the hurtful comments and remarks we’ve heard others say about us. It tries to trick us into believing that the mistakes of the past are stuck to us like glue holding us down. When the truth is that our successes are built on top of those mistakes. With every blunder we learn, grow and climb higher. Be careful of the Hyde voice—it’s tricky and dangerous.

5) This Voice Tries to Limit You

It’s only focus is what can’t be done, how it won’t work, and that you’re not good enough to succeed. It desperately tries to convince you that there are limits to your creative potential. That somehow you have reached the farthest limit of what and who you can be. But, we never stop growing, evolving and creating. In this way, we are unlimited. We are only limited by our beliefs.

Now let’s look at the Jekyll voice—the Voice of Reason.

 1) This Voice is Not Critical

The Jekyll voice speaks in a very flexible, supportive way. Yes, it will still point out potential problems but only with your best interests in mind. It says things like: “Okay. That could be better. How can I make improvements?” “I know I can do better work, than that. What did I do wrong?” “It’s close, but something is missing…I wonder what would happen if I made this change?” It prompts you to look for solutions.

2) This Voice is Personal

Jekyll’s voice relates to you personally. Its tone is one of understanding. It doesn’t point the finger. It is almost soothing. “I know I can do this.”

3) This Voice is Helpful

It offers solutions and helps us develop plans to overcome problems and to learn from them. It rallies all the known resources and applies them in a calm and helpful way with the goal of solving the problem creatively.

4) This Voice is Reliable

It always speaks the truth. If a project isn’t working, it says so, but it reasons why and doesn’t put any unnecessary blame on the person. We all have bad ideas. It doesn’t make us talentless or unsuccessful.
Nor does the Jekyll voice try to make excuses why something isn’t working or have us buy into untrue stories about who we really are. If something isn’t working, that’s okay. But the Jekyll voice won’t make it all your fault or lay unnecessary blame.

5) The Voice Helps You to Expand

The voice of reason only wishes you to understand one thing: you have no limits. There are only choices—choices of what you wish to do and those you do not.
Both voices are struggling to be heard over the other. The one we pay attention to the most is the one that will become the dominate motivator in our lives and creative pursuits.

So, in the end, it comes down to which voice we choose to give our attention to: Hyde’s or Jekyll’s?

How I Found My Happy Workplace

“Men are disturbed not by things that happen, but by their opinions of the things that happen.”-Epictetus

A few years ago I realized my job was making me sick—physically, emotionally, and even spiritually. At least, that’s what I believed.

I would often wake up dreading the workday ahead, wondering what karmic by-law I could have possibly broken to deserve such misery. As time passed I became more and more depressed, confused and angry. I knew I had to make a change but had no idea what needed changing or how to change it.

Unfortunately, this was not a new problem. I’d done many things over the years: labor, retail, self-employment, office work, customer service and they had all made me feel the same way. And I’m not talking about a mild dissatisfaction here. No, this was a terrible get-sick-in-the-morning-just-thinking-about-it-and-want-to-quit-but-can’t kind of hate.
Believe me, it’s not a nice place to be. It has a way of eating away at you—slowly.

So why hadn’t these jobs made me happy? After all, some of them had been well-respected positions. It occurred to me that they must have shared some flaw—some hidden factor that was making me feel the way I did.

I was determined to find out what it was. If I could just figure it out, I was sure I could fix my unhappiness. I explored the all the factors I could think of: salary, co-workers, clients, the physical plant, the commute—you name it. Yet, the more I looked at these things, the clearer it became that none of them warranted the blame I was attempting to bestow upon them.

For example: my unhappiness couldn’t have been linked to the money since I got several raises over the years and I was still unhappy. Co-workers seemed to come and go and every client was different too. So I couldn’t really blame them either. Even the work changed—sometimes every day! I was stumped.

I became afraid that if I didn’t figure it out soon, I’d be stuck forever! There had to be some common link that I was missing. But what was it?

Present Moment Perspective

I didn’t know it at the time but I was unable to see the solution because I had been blinded by the regret and anger of the past. To make matters worse, my fear of the future was growing.
Then one day (don’t ask me why) I simply changed the way I looked at the problem. Maybe I was tired of playing the “blame game”, maybe deep down I knew there was a better way to live.
Anyway, I stopped worrying about how all these crappy jobs had ruined and wasted most of my life. I just let it go.
I also stopped worrying about what might happen in the future. Would I ever find my dream job? Would I ever be happy at work? I let these fears go too.
In doing so, I had (quite by accident) pulled myself fully and completely into the present moment.
This was huge. At the time I didn’t understand the power of what had happened, but it was about to change my life. You see, the present moment is all we really have. It is from “here” that we draw our true strength. It grounds us in a profound way.
Now thinking from the present moment, I was finally in the right spot to make a positive change. I had, in a way, finally showed up for my own life. Now I could see the problem from the correct vantage point; all I had to do was open my eyes. I was about to become aware…

My First Brush with Awareness

I’ve come to see Awareness like a GPS. It lets you see where you’ve been, where you’re going but most importantly where you are.
So many of us go through our entire lives without taking a good look at ourselves and the things around us. When you consider the consequences, it’s really quite sad.
Any problem can be solved through awareness and ‘present moment thinking’.
As I looked deeper for answers, my awareness grew. With that awareness, I saw for the very first time, the common factor that I had been looking for. It was the only thing that had remained constant throughout my entire working career. That factor had been—Me!
I was forced to come to terms with the very real possibility that I (and I alone) was responsible for my own unhappiness. It wasn’t an easy pill to swallow—at first. After all, I couldn’t be the cause of my pain—problems were simply things that happened to me. I wasn’t creating them! Why would I?
But in the end I had little choice but to accept the facts. Logic’s cold accusing finger was pointed right back at me.

There was a process at work here. Let’s review what had occurred so far.
1) By not worrying about (and looking at) the past or the future, I had nowhere else to go but the present moment.
2) While in the present moment, I had a clear vantage granting me a new awareness of the problem. I could now see that I had been the problem, all along.

But I didn’t yet know why…

Moving From the Present Moment to Awareness to Mindfulness

Positioned perfectly in the Present Moment I was finally in the right spot to solve the problem. Awareness opened my eyes to it. Combined, these two conditions helped me to enter an even higher state of consciousness that I call being “presently aware.”
But this still wasn’t enough. Just because I was in the right place and could see the problem didn’t mean I understood how to fix it.
To fix a problem we must understand it—fully. To understand something fully, we must see it for what it truly is. This is mindfulness. Mindfulness is kind of like looking behind the magician’s curtain and seeing that it was all an illusion.
When we understand things for what they truly are (with a sense of mindfulness) we see right through them and come to the understanding that these things are not real at all.
Mindfulness allows us to understand (to know) that no problem exists outside our own minds and imaginations. So in the end there is nothing to fix, because the problem never existed in the first place.
From a state of mindfulness, I was able to understand it had been my own attitudes and actions that were creating my unhappiness. Nobody and no-thing outside myself had any power to make me unhappy unless I gave them permission to do so.

Let’s review this process once more in its entirety…

1) I pulled myself into the present moment by letting go of past’s regret and future’s fear.  (Right Location).
2) From the right location, I was now positioned to see the problem. I was now aware of it.  (Eyes Open)
3) By combining present moment thinking and awareness I became “presently aware”.  (Clearer Vision)
4) The illusion falls. The story, the drama, the fear—all of it ceased to be real to me.  (Mindfulness/ Knowing).

Now with this process in place, all I had to do was train myself to stay aware of when I felt unhappy at work. Then step back and know that I was in control of my happiness and that it was not controlled or created by any outside element. But I still had to choose to do it.

Choosing Happiness

This process can only work if you make the choice to use it. It’s hard work. It takes will and dedication. But it’s worth it.
In time as you move toward mastery you will understand that you and you alone are in control of your happy workplace.

To learn more about how you can move towards mindfulness in your life and workplace please read my book, “My Happy Workplace.”      

The Tar Pit: What To Do When You’re Stuck In a Bad Day.

Bad days. I’m amazed by how they can sneak up on me when I least expect it.

Here’s how it usually goes. Everything seems okay. The morning starts out nicely. Then something happens, then something else happens and before I know it, I’m stuck—right up to my armpits.
I affectionately call this the “Tar Pit”—a veritable boat load of problems, hang-ups and trials. Sound familiar?

When you’re in the tar pit it’s really easy to start feeling sorry for yourself. Maybe you get stressed out, or even angry, wondering “Why me?”  Believe me, I know the feeling.

When I find myself in the tar pit I tend to complain, blame everyone and everything, spiraling down ever deeper into the pit. The more I struggle to regain some measure of control, the deeper I go. Not a very healthy reaction, I admit. But, I’m getting better.

But there is good news: the tar pit isn’t nearly as bad as it sounds; not nearly as bad as it was for ill-fated woolly mammoths or other prehistoric creatures. For them, getting stuck in a tar pit was a death sentence. And what about poor Brer Rabbit? Remember him? Once they got stuck—it was almost impossible to get out. Luckily for us, the tar pit I’m talking about is far easier to escape—if you know how.   

1) Stay Aware
Woolly Mammoths and little Brer Rabbit found themselves in a sticky situation because they weren’t paying attention. Being present and aware is the best defense against the Tar Pit. If you are alert, you will instantly know when you have stepped into the pit and will be able to take corrective action—which is to step back.

2) Step Back
When you first recognize that things are starting to go bad—step back and take a breath. (Literally and figuratively). Center yourself. Take a few seconds to look at the situation from the outside. Is it really so bad? Is it worth risking the tar pit?

3) Appreciate
What is actually happening? Understand it. Instead of reacting with emotion and bias really look at it. Settle into it with a calm knowing. If the problem seems to be coming from a co-worker or somebody else; try looking at the situation from the other person’s perspective. If it’s the workload, try exploring why its upsetting you. Is there too much? Too difficult? Then break the work down into more manageable bits, and only focus on one bit at a time until it’s done and then move on.

4) Remember
We are not disturbed by the things that happen, but by our reaction to the things that happen. Never forget that we control how to react to an event. The event does not control us.

5) Choose
Make a choice to remember, to appreciate, to step back and to be aware.\

Ultimately, whether or not you find yourself in the tar pit, it comes down to you. It is also your choice to how long you stay there.


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Breaking Through Creative Inertia

“A body in motion tends to stay in motion. A body at rest, tends to stay at rest.” –Isaac Newton

I’d like to think that I’m pretty disciplined—not crazy disciplined, mind you, but I can get my work done when I need to. And once I get started, I move along quite nicely. It’s the “getting started” part that has a tendency to kick me in the gut.

How many times has this happened to you? You’re all ready to begin a project. You’ve thought about it, you’ve planned, you’re even excited about it. And then—BLAM! The wall goes up.

Overcoming inertia is one of the biggest challenges a person can face when starting something new. But the creatively inclined seems especially afflicted. Artists (regardless of their discipline) can have a heck of a time getting their creative engines going—at least enough to get over that first speed bump in the road.

Some mornings I sit down to write and it’s kind of like I’m in a race car, revving my engine at the starting line—just waiting for the signal. I pick up my pen, look down at the blank sheet of paper—and nothing. The gun goes off and my engine stalls.

Now in all fairness to me and those other “slow starters” of the world, what we try to do on a daily basis isn’t easy. Whether you’re a writer, a painter, a sculptor, a musician or whatever, we are all expected to create something out of nothing. How crazy is that?

So, I think we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves.

No wonder getting over that first bump can sometimes feel like climbing a mountain.  Whoever said “starting is the hardest part” nailed it.
Any successful artist has, at some point, learned how to deal with inertia or she would have never seen success.

This doesn’t apply only to art —but to all aspects of life, as well. Those who fail to overcome inertia remain forever behind that proverbial starting line, without ever crossing it.

So, what is this thing that keeps showing us the hand?

At first brush, we might see the inability to get started as laziness, pure and simple. But a creative mind is anything but lazy. Creative energy is active, it’s lively. Even the act of thinking in a creative way denotes a certain level of drive.

So if is not laziness, what is it? What could possibly be strong enough to stop a flow of energy as potent as creativity?

Fear.

From a writer’s perspective, there’s nothing more daunting than a blank piece of paper, or an empty Word document screen.

And I can only imagine that instant just before a musician strikes the first note of a new composition. The empty silence must be deafening!

This is what artists affectingly call “drawing a blank.” It can send a crippling bolt of fear through any artist. So powerful, it can knockout that first creative spark before it can ignite in the artist’s imagination.

“Image courtesy of sippakorn/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

If creative inertia is mostly fear, how can we beat it?
It’s not like we can just snap our figures and make it disappear. After all, this natural law has been around since the Big Bang–billions of years before Isaac Newton shared his now famous observation: “A body in motion tends to stay in motion. A body at rest, tends to stay at rest.”

If you notice, Newton said that a body at rest, tends to stay at rest. Not that it is locked into a perpetual state of inactivity. It just needs a nudge.

So how do we give our creativity a nudge?

1) Give yourself permission to suck.
The fear of looking bad in the eyes of others can be crippling.
What if I’m no good? What if everybody hates my work? These and similar questions have nothing to do with the act of creation. They have no business anywhere near an artist. To access creative energy, an artist must remain totally and completely in the present moment. Such detrimental thinking moves the artist’s mind into a future of “what if’s” and “maybe’s”. There’s no way we can create something if we are not in the present moment with it–if our minds are somewhere else worrying about some imagined result.

2) Give yourself permission to fail.
The Masters, like Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Mozart didn’t start out as artistic geniuses, quite the opposite, in fact. They all had their failures and misfortunes —their confrontations with creative inertia. But they overcame them, by giving themselves the permission to fail—to try new things, to experiment. And with each failure, they learned something new, which eventually gave them enough energy to break through the wall, into success.

3) Feel the fear and do it anyway.
I know it sounds cliché, but it’s far from empty advice. Fear is just another form of energy–mostly made up of limited thinking and all the stories we tell ourselves about what we believe we can do or can’t do.
The interesting thing about fear is that it can give us an amazing burst of adrenaline. Why not use that energy to blast through the wall? Start throwing everything you have at it. Ideas, concepts, words, pictures, sounds. Don’t concern yourself whether or not it makes sense, just keep brainstorming. This will do two things: 1) It promotes forward movement. 2) It jump starts the creative process as one idea leads to another and another… Before you realize it, you’re moving again.

4) Turn inertia against itself.
The most profound nudge we can give creative inertia lies within inertia itself—within those blank pages and vacant notes we fear so much.
There is power in these empty spaces—tap into it. “God’s one and only true voice is silence”. Creative energy and inspiration reside in the spaces in between, the before and the after, and in those perfect gaps of nothing. Instead of “drawing a blank”, draw from the blank.

Take a breath and look into the white screen. Settle into the silence. Not with anxiety and fear but with a calm knowing that this is where our creative power truly lives. The whispers of inspiration can only be heard when we are quiet. Listen for them, look for them.

The next time you are stuck remember these four tips to give your creativity a nudge.

Give yourself permission to suck.
Give yourself permission to fail.
Feel the fear and do it anyway.
Turn inertia against itself.

Creative inertia may seem like a daunting wall, but with the right nudge it will come crumbling down every time. So what are you waiting for? Get ready, get set, go!

 Thanks for visiting. A note of appreciation to all of my regular and new readers. Your interest in my work is deeply appreciated. Blogging can be solitary work. I welcome your comments and questions. Become part of the discussion.

Please use the Facebook comments box at the bottom of each post. If that doesn’t work for you drop me a line through email or the green “Contact Us” tag to the right.I also invite you to sign up for my Email list by using the sign up box on the right of the post and get a free copy of my book “My Happy Workplace”.

Attached to the Muse

“O! for a muse of fire, that would ascend the brightest heaven of invention.”–William Shakespeare

For an artist there is no greater feeling than when inspiration strikes. It’s almost intoxicating.

Whenever I get a good idea—I mean a “really good” idea, it’s like someone or something has given me an amazing gift. The hair stands up on the back of my neck, my heart quickens and a pleasant tingling settles in the pit of my stomach.

In that moment, all I can think of is this creative seed, this spark of inspiration that has been dropped into my lap. It’s a treasure like no other. And like any treasure my first reaction is to grab it and hold on tight—to protect it.

At this moment I usually scramble to write down the idea before I forget it. And this isn’t as easy as it might sound. After all, a blast of inspiration hits an artist with an enormous amount of raw creative energy. It is almost a visceral experience. In a way it is more felt than thought.

When the muse whispers her secrets, the artist gets the full brunt of its energy in all its imagined completeness—perfect and whole. But it is only a seed. And within that seed resides the potential of the entire thing—whether that be a novel, a painting or a song.

In order to share it, to create, the artist must do the near impossible—which is totranslate this perfectly complete “feeling” by using comparatively clumsy tools (words, sounds and pictures) to recreate the elegance of inspired thought—its emotional impact. It’s kind of like smashing a rock against a piece of marble to draw out the sculpture inside. But this, at its core, is the daunting task of every artist.

And it’s during this translation process that an artist is most vulnerable to creative blocks—especially if she is unaware of this energy’s true nature, which is its need to evolve and grow past the point of inspiration.

Inspiration is like any seed or spark. Packed within is a huge amount of creative, potential energy. All this potentiality lies in wait until it gets the opportunity to mature. If the seed or the spark is unable to do so, it will die and whither. No seed can sustain itself indefinitely without growing. A spark will eventually burn out if it’s not given the room to expand.

This is what happens when the artist’s ignorance of the process compels him to stay too true to his muse; when he becomes too attached to the original idea. So instead of allowing the idea to grow and expand in exciting ways, he ends up limiting it by his misguided attempt to preserve it.

I can’t count how many times I’ve blocked myself by doggedly sticking to what I believed was the original idea, instead of letting it go where it wanted to. As I write, I’ll often notice that the story seems to take on a life of its own. It goes in unexpected directions. Perhaps it even starts to become something else.

In that moment I jump to my muse’s defense and curtail the creative chaos, bringing the story back to the original concept. Invariably, this approach (no matter how well-intentioned) kills the work.

I then wonder what went wrong. How could such a great idea die?

It is because I killed it by not letting it grow. I bought into the illusion—my limited interpretation of what I thought the idea should be. An interpretation based upon the few words I managed to string together in the mad rush to preserve the original idea—during my initial blast of inspiration.

But, in doing so I only managed to capture the tiniest bit of the whole picture. In my arrogance, I believed the idea to already be complete and perfect. So I didn’t let it grow any further. I loved the idea so much and became so attached to it that I tried to keep it just the way it started out. And because it couldn’t grow—it died.

You might say I killed it with kindness.

Inspiration is not a vision of some artistic end result. Even if it is—we are seriously handicapped when it comes to translating this energy through things like words, pictures and sounds. As beautiful as these things can be, they are simply not up to the monumental task of translating the raw energy of pure inspiration. But that doesn’t stop us from trying—as the multitude of books, paintings and songs can attest. Nor should it.   

So, it may be far more useful to treat inspiration as the first step in a larger creative process, remembering not to get too attached to any one idea.

In this way we open up to the hidden potential of all the ideas as they occur to us, allowing them to expand into far greater versions of themselves. Go with the flow. Allow your work to breathe and witness the creation process as it unfolds. 

Don’t be an artistic control freak. Control is boring. Do you really want to control the roller coaster or would you rather throw up your arms and scream in delight?

The best artists allow their muses to run wild—the Masters somehow manage to hang on for the ride.

A few things to remember:

1)    Inspiration is the starting point, not a vision of the end goal.

2)    Let ideas evolve and grow naturally.

3)  Understand that the best art still only captures a tiny part of inspired thought using relatively clumsy tools (words, sounds and pictures) to recreate the indescribable elegance of inspired thought. So don’t get messed up (blocked) by trying to recreate it completely—it won’t happen.  

4)    As powerful as inspiration is, it can be choked by too tight a collar.

5)    Don’t be afraid to abandon the original idea if it wants to go in new and more exciting direction.

6)    Control is boring.

Thanks for visiting. A note of appreciation to all of my regular and new readers. Your interest in my work is deeply appreciated. Blogging can be solitary work. I welcome your comments and questions. Become part of the discussion.

Please use the Facebook comments box at the bottom of each post. If that doesn’t work for you drop me a line through email or the green “Contact Us” tag to the right.

I also invite you to sign up for my Email list by using the sign up box on the right of the post and get a free copy of my book “My Happy Workplace”.

Hope to hear from you soon….Troy

Seconds of Silence (Part Two)

It’s amazing what a few seconds of silence can do—the power it holds. And you should congratulate yourself for taking those few seconds. It may seem like a small thing, but we rarely give ourselves the permission to appreciate and embrace silence in any kind of deliberate or meaningful way. We have forgotten how silence can nourish, heal and connect us. We have been so conditioned by our modern, noisy society that we actually feel uncomfortable when things are “too quiet”. How messed is that?

The power of silence is profound. Sometimes, for me, silence is so tangible that it is as if I can dip my hands into it like a healing balm. Silence is one of the greatest gifts I give myself.

Silence is also a bridge to creative source—a link to inspiration. It is where the power resides to make art, solve problems and to thrive in this creative world of ours. Take music for example. We typically associate it with sound—its rhythm and notes, instruments and voice. It is a purely auditory art form. And yet, it is not the sound that makes music beautiful—that gives it the power to move the human heart. No, it is the empty spaces between the notes that give music life. Without silence, music could only exist as one long droning note. It would be nothing but noise.

No wonder it’s been said that “God’s one and only true voice is silence”.

As I write this, it’s a little after 4:30 in the morning. The world around me is still. There are no cars or trucks rumbling outside. No lawnmowers or weed-whackers droning. No T.Vs, computers or cell phones humming. Even the birds are sound asleep in their nests. It is times like this that give me a deep appreciation for silence and the creative energy that accompanies it. I find silence in ample supply during this time of the day: (right around 4:30am to 6:00am). Some people call this the “Holy Hour.’ For me it’s a wonderful time to create, think and connect.The poet Rumi once wrote:

“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.”

I’ve previously described creativity as energy–pure energy that fuels our lives and art in breathtaking ways—provided it is not blocked. And few other things can block creativity like noise—whether it be internal chatter or external clatter.  

That being said, it only takes silence a moment to reconnect us, to unblock creative energy stuck by noise. In this way I am happily reminded of how this awesome power is constantly around us and how it can be accessed after mere seconds of calm stillness.

In fact, creative energy is always present; we just can’t always “hear” it because of all the noise in our lives. But no matter how loud that noise gets, it can never totally cut us off from creative source energy. We are a part of that energy and it is a part of us. There is no separation. Even though that connection may get blocked from time to time. But it’s nothing that a quick dose of silence can’t fix.  

If you’re an artist and are currently blocked or if you’re facing a problem (the solution to which is eluding you) try approaching the problem from a place of silence—both mentally and otherwise. To do this find a quiet time and place. Then before you start empty all the mental chatter—the doubts, the fears, the to-do lists, the problems, the art itself. Instead, focus on your breath and (more so) the silence between each inhale and exhale. Slowly allow that silence to wrap around you, allow it to fill your mind, your spirit. The more you do this, the stronger your connection with creative power will become and the solutions to your creative blocks and problems will appear, as if from nowhere.

THREE GREAT WAYS TO CONNECT TO SILENCE

1) Give yourself the permission to be still. Allow yourself just a couple minutes a day to reconnect and refuel your creative power through silence. The world won’t fall apart if you give yourself a minute or two, will it?

2) Breathe. Be mindful of your breathing. It is your connection to silence and silence is your connection to your creative power and your creative power is your connection to your true and authentic self.

3) Try getting up early. Experience the power of the “Holy Hour” for yourself. Don’t let that comfortable bed entice you. Don’t go back to sleep. Important secrets are being whispered specially for you. Perhaps they are the solutions to the very problems you are experiencing right now.    

The next time your find yourself blocked either artistically or in life, try spending a few seconds with silence to find a solution. I think you will be pleased with the result

Thanks for visiting. A note of appreciation to all of my regular and new readers. Your interest in my work is deeply appreciated. Blogging can be solitary work so I really welcome your comments and questions. Be part of the discussion and throw me a comment or two.

Most internet browsers will recognize my Facebook comments box, or you can leave me a message by clicking the green “Contact Us” tab to the right of the screen. You can also sign up for my Email list by either using the sign up box on the right of the post or by clicking on the green “Contact Us” page.  My sincere apologies to all of you who have left comments in the generic comments box. It is not working properly and I am unable reply to and display all of your wonderful remarks from the last little while. Please try again using the other messaging options.

And if you get the chance, check out my book My Happy Workplace,   now available through most online retailers.  Hope to hear from you.Troy    

Seconds Of Silence (Part One)

“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.” – Rumi

I’m going to begin this post by asking that you not read it—not just yet, anyway.

Instead, I invite you to take a moment for yourself—don’t worry, I’m only asking for a few seconds. (About the time it takes to slowly breathe in and out once.)

Ready?

Okay. Now sit up nice and straight. Make sure you’re comfy. Close your eyes andslowly pull in a deep breath. Then simply let it out…

If that felt good, treat yourself to another breath. But this time focus on just the breath, itself. Don’t think about everything that’s happening in your life, or that looming project or problem. Try to think of nothing at all. Just focus on your breath.  

Gently immerse yourself in silence for another few seconds. Soak it up. Do that now. When you’re ready to continue reading just click on the hour glass below…

Comfortable?

“A dream is your creative vision for your life in the future. You must break out of your current comfort zone and become comfortable with the unfamiliar and the unknown.” Denis Waitley

I’d like to think that I’m starting to figure out my life, but I know better. The more I learn, the less I actually know. The things I once thought to be simple are far more complex than I could have ever imagined. I must say, it’s a bit humbling. Take the concept of comfort, for instance. It seems simple enough, right? Everybody loves comfort. And what’s not to love? It’s so—well—comfortable.  And yet there’s another side to comfort that I’ve never really thought about, until recently.

Western society has programed us to crave comfort. Advertising, popular media, even the education system is designed with the promise of giving us a more comfortable life.

I’ll admit that I like my comfort—a pleasant summer’s day, a tasty meal, living in a nice home, and having a sense of abundance are some of the niceties that make getting up in the morning worthwhile. I’m grateful for these things. But these same comforts can also create problems in our lives and (since this post is about creative blocks) even in our creative pursuits—if we become too attached to them.

And there’s the rub. It’s the attachment to comfort that creates the problem—not the comforts themselves. Most of us are far too attached to comfort. And it’s understandable. Once we find something that feels comfortable or brings us a sense of security, we tend to hold onto it—with an iron grip. And this is how we get stuck. Not only artistically, but in life, as well.

We get stuck because playing it safe, cocooned in the familiarity of our daily lives and routines, is contrary to our natural sense of curiosity. It is this inborn curiosity that that pushes us to explore and seek out new experiences.

Your ego craves comfort, while your spirit (your creative self) craves curiosity. So we often find ourselves oscillating between curiosity and comfort—with comfort winning most of the time. The result is eventual disenchantment and artistic dead ends.        
  
So why do we do it? The trap and illusion of comfort is subtle. It’s a tricky little bugger and so is our ego. Even if we break free from its grip and explore something new we still have to remain mindful. The new experience will re-energize us, expand and renew our spirit. Hence it feels great. This is a good thing. But it feels so good that we almost immediately start to get attached to the new feeling and we live according to the newly created parameters associated with these feelings. If we are not mindful, and remain here too long, we’re back in the cocoon!   

The trick is to keep moving, to keep growing. Constantly.

As an artist be aware of how comfort can be a huge block to creativity. Imagine yourself making the jump into an exciting new creative venture. It’s so successful that you begin to rely on it. Over time it becomes your new artistic routine, your style. But later on, the fire goes out of it. It becomes boring and expected. The spark you first had is gone. Despite this, it’s still safe. It’s known territory. So you hold on to it. Now you’re blocked.

Remember, we create our best work when we feel just a little scared or anxious, when we are playing on the outer rim and exploring those rough edges of our artistic boundaries. All of which exist just outside our “comfort zone”. It can be extremely scary to go there—into the unknown. But we are always the better for it. It is the only way we can grow creatively. 

Imagine what might happen if you become so comfortable that you never again ventured outside your comfort zone? Could you survive and thrive as a dynamic artist? Would your art mean anything to you or to anyone else?

Art, writing or even life needs to grow and expand. It has to push at these rough edges, into something new. Behind every fear, our greatness resides. But we have to be willing and courageous enough to scratch at the wall of the cocoon—to tear into it and push through to find our potential.

Our minds are sparked by new experiences, new ideas. The unknown. The unfamiliar. The scary. An unchallenged mind is happy and quite content to stay curled up in its warm cocoon. But, such a mind isn’t truly living—merely existing. It certainly can’t create on any meaningful level.

So how can we avoid this cycle of entering new experiences only to eventually get overcome by the comfort they offer?

1)    Examine your present comfort zone. Explore your life and creativity. Get present and mindful with it. Has it fallen into a rut? When was the last time you tried something new or scary? Does today look much the same as yesterday? Does last week look the same as this one?

2)   Think outside of your comfort zone. In your art, consider new creative possibilities. In life, is there something you want to try but have been too scared to? Imagine yourself doing that thing that excites you.

3) Move outside your comfort zone. You don’t have to tear your entire life up, abandoning everything all at once. Just make one change, for now. Explore one new avenue of experience. If you are a writer or an artist, reach out to a new and potentially non-responsive audience, try a new style or topic. Take a chance. 

Do this and you will have a better chance to reignite your creativity and life in exciting ways. Remember your life isn’t about reaching some end goal of ultimate comfort only to retire and then head off comfortably into the great beyond. It’s an ongoing creative process of exploration and excitement loaded with unlimited possibilities. But you have to be willing to reach for them. Tear through the wall. Step into something new—today.     

Thanks for visiting. I just want to take a minute and express my gratitude for everyone who reads my work and sends me comments and encouragement. I love sharing my views with you and sincerely enjoy your participation in the discussion.

To see more of my work, please check out my blog and my book My Happy Workplace, currently free at most online eBook retailers.