Your brain ‘sploding with ideas! Your hands want to make things!
You love listening to the inspiring whispers of your inner muse about all the amazing things you could do, try and experience.
Your heart buzzes with passion and excitement to make a change in your life….your business… well, heck, why not change the whole world while you are at it?
Having been a pretty seriously academic and analytical person for most of my life, claiming my creative muse in the past few years has been a delight and a revelation. I’ve learned how to still my linear mind and personal will that was so used to pushing and striving to “figure it all out” and then take action.
Embracing my innate creativity has helped me learn how to “go with the flow” instead of sticking to rigid agendas. I have developed a skill set that’s come in very handy raising three children, navigating divorce, dealing with break-ups personally and professionally), starting a few businesses after a successful professional career in more corporate, buttoned-down type of settings.
But there’s the dark side of creativity.
It comes and goes. When you’re in the creative zone, it’s awesome. But when you can’t come up with a solution to a problem to save your life, it can be super frustrating.
Creativity predisposes you to seeing possibility in everything and everyone. It’s the classic situation of seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses. We say “Yes!” to opportunities or relationships that may not truly serve us. We fall in love with the possibility and don’t really stop to say, “Wait, is this really the best decision I should make right now?”
Creatives often struggle to take action and implement their bright ideas. Let’s face it, most of us creatives are great at starting things, but not so great at actually completing them. And when we do, we can be quick to get bored and want to move on to the next fun adventure in creativity. When you’re flooded with creative impulses, but you aren’t taking action on them, you end up in creative chaos.
Creativity can rot and turn to self-doubt if you aren’t implementing your ideas.
Creativity chaos is when your creative muse, ideas and energy get all tangled up and nothing happens. Your enthusiasm turns to self-doubt and sadness as you realize some passion projects just haven’t happened yet. You didn’t write that book. You still haven’t found your soul mate. Your dream of having your own photography exhibit seems self-indulgent and you give up. You’re too old now to travel around the world.
Ugh… I’m feeling the regret, sadness and feelings of defeat creeping even now just writing this!
Solving creativity chaos is so important, not just to us personally but also to those who experience the fruits of our creative efforts when we do actually cross the finish line and implement it. Never underestimate how much you being in your own brilliance can inspire and motive others to step more fully into their own creativity and brilliance.
Here are my 10 top tips to help creatives take action and implement your brilliance!
1. Have a Creativity Storehouse
Honor your creative muse when you hear it and capture your ideas and inspirations. One time I was on a red-eye flight and my creative muse was so loud I heard a voice saying, “Hey, you better write this down because these are great ideas we’re giving you. Otherwise you’ll forget! So write this down.” Ever since that moment, I have!
Your creativity storehouse can be physical, like a special journal or file folder, or digital. There are some powerful online applications, like Evernote, where you can pop in your notes, photos or scribbles.
2. Use Your Values as Your Rudder
Know what your core values are and let them help you decide which creative project or idea you want to pursue. Over time, you might find that some of your values shift or get weighted more heavily than others. For me, the values of authenticity, creativity, clarity and contribution are key drivers for the decisions I make.
3. Follow Your Rhythms
Creativity isn’t like a light switch you flip on and off at will. Learn your own rhythms of when your energy is high and expressive, and when you feel more introverted and reflective. Work with your natural energetic and creative flow.
4. Does it Need to Be You?
You can’t implement every single creative impulse you have, nor should you. But for those ideas that are important enough that you want to take to the next step, you don’t necessarily need to be the person to carry it all the way across the finish line. Who can you partner with or delegate you to help you get your brilliance out in the world?
5. Keep Your Big Vision in Mind
Lewis Carroll said, “If you don’t know where you are going, every road will take you there.” What is that big, heart-tugging vision that makes your spirit soar? Get clear on your vision and use it to help direct and channel your creativity.
6. Bite-size It
When you’re in the creative flow of your true brilliance, the sky really can feel like the limit. But to successfully implement anything, you need to break it down into simple, bite-sized steps. To that creative muse, setting action steps might feel mundane. But simple stems, and having systems to ensure you are following through over time, helps you get the job done.
7. What’s the ROI?
Your time and your energy are precious commodities. Spend them wisely. Before embarking on new inspiring projects, invite your analytical mind in to the creative party and assess what is the potential return on your investment of time, energy and resources. What is the return you’d love to see, whether it be building up your bank account, building your community or supporting a cause. You decide what criteria is important to you, but use the ROI question to help you decide your priorities.
8. Downtime is Golden
When you’re in execution mode, there will be points where you feel stuck or like you’ve hit a brick wall. Instead of trying to pound away, give yourself a break take a step back. Downtime is golden, and often when you take a step away from the immediate problem is when you’ll see a new angle or solution. So rest, do something really fun, read an inspirational book or do whatever it takes to help you get clear and more able to take effective action.
9. Tap Into a Brain Trust
The one person you’ll never be able to totally see is yourself. We all need mirrors to see ourselves. Make sure you have people in your life who can hear you out, listen deeply and give you their honest input as you take action.
10. Give Yourself Permission to Marinate
Like a fine red wine tastes better after it’s had a chance to “breathe,” sometimes our best creative ideas need to “breathe” as well. Hold your ideas playfully and lightly. Let them marinate a bit. Stay tuned in to your flow of brilliance that will absolutely guide to when it’s time to reflect more, and when it’s time to get out there and start implementing.
STEP INTO YOUR BRILLIANCE
Block off 15 minutes this week to journal about how easy or difficult it is for you to take your creative ideas from being a thought to a reality. Review the tips offered and identify 2-3 tips that would be most important for you to take action on in the next 7 days.
