boundaries of exploration

The Internet presents a simultaneous blessing and curse for creativity. There’s a constant flow of info, providing endless grounds for inspiration. Left unbridled, however, that constant flow can silence your own voice. When you place too much focus on those around you, you can forget who you are at your core.

Instead of losing yourself by accident in the love of the work of others, set boundaries on the exploration time you dedicate to absorbing. Meanwhile, expand any boundaries surrounding your own acts of creation and enable true exploration of yourself.

risk

The hardest part about risking has nothing to do with the action itself. It has more to do with your thoughts and that extreme, fearful story they create.

Valuable change requires that you ward off those lies just long enough to act and see - the risking didn't kill you. In fact, you're more alive now than ever before.

average

There is a voice in your head that beckons you to embrace the average. That voice tells you to fit in and settle.

There is another voice in your head that puts up a fight. It knows you aren’t average. No one is.

Most deem that voice to be unrealistic or unreasonable. Thus, most tend to remain pretty average.

Those who actually listen to that voice and dare to defy the norm? They’re the ones that stop looking like the average, start raising the bar and actively change the reality of the world.

unhurried

As I prepared for my Sunday morning ritual – my walk to the farmers market – I felt myself rushing. It was 10AM. I didn’t have to be anywhere until 4. Why the heck was I feeling so hurried?

Because, I longed to have a full list of tasks accomplished at the day’s close. I thought that would mark the day with a seal of achievement. And, with that flawed mindset, I robbed myself of the present.

See, I love walking to the farmers market. I love taking time to soak up all the sights and sounds there. And, I love returning home, taking a moment to admire the natural beauty of my selections, then reading up on the best way to store each item with care. I love patiently chopping up vegetables and closely considering how the various flavors will complement one another as I prepare my meal. But, with a hurried state of mind, I deprive myself of the beauty of those moments.

The unhurried process, on the other hand, yields far greater reward – a sense of patience, peace and joy. The deliberate process affords greater appreciation of life itself. When I pause long enough, I can see the beauty of each fleeting moment.

Perhaps, the greatest accomplishment then, is approaching each day with that unhurried sense of time.

space to create

“But what if it’s an emergency?”

That’s the excuse many of us lean on as reasoning for allowing reactionary work to control our lives.

But ask yourself – how many times has it actually been a real emergency? I’m talking someone’s life or safety is in jeopardy.

Rarely?

And yet, you continue to give power to that unreasonably fearful voice?

If you want to live a life defined by reactionary work – a life too busy responding with little room for creating – be sure to respond to that email immediately or answer the phone whenever it rings. But, if you’d rather create, problem-solve and strategize more often, start making decisions that allow you to do so.

Close your email. Silence your phone. Block creative time in your schedule and commit to it.

I’m guessing that email or call can wait until tomorrow. Decide to make room to create today.

emotions

There’s an interesting thing we as humans like to do – act helpless in the face of our own thoughts and emotions.

Ever hear anyone say “I just can’t stop thinking about it” or “My mind just goes there?”

I’m as guilty of those statements as the next person, but we aren’t giving ourselves enough credit.

We don’t have to be victims in the tide of our own thoughts and emotions. We can choose to let certain negative thoughts own us, or we can choose to replace them with other productive thoughts. It may not be easy. It may not be automatic. Yet, we do have the power to make a choice.

And, get this – when we alter our thought patterns and subsequent emotions, we influence our happiness, which has been demonstrated to fuel success.

So, instead of allowing an emotional onslaught to control our lives, let’s choose to direct our energy differently.

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For more scoop, check out Shawn Achor and The Happiness Advantage. “When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe.”