It's time to demystify “creativity” and start living it!

I have a question for you: Are you open and willing to be creative?

I know that for many people this is a scary proposition. For others the question broaches a topic that is interpreted in so many ways that it’s hard to know how to begin to think about it.

Here’s some perspective that may help you consider the question for yourself.

Being creative means...

So many brilliant people have offered definitions of what it means to be creative. I will throw out a few ways you can think about creating that I hope will dim any fear or confusion.

Being creative means…

• being willing to think about things in a new way

• being willing to take a chance and do something new and different

• being excited about new possibilities and dreaming up what those might look like

• being willing to play and experiment

• slowing down — instead of reacting reflexively — and considering what your best options are or what might be possible

When you consider being creative in these ways, I hope it does not feel so hard to imagine yourself being a creator.

I hope it doesn't feel like creating is only for those “talented” people, like painters and novelists and musicians.

Rather, creating is something we can all do all the time, and being a creator can lead us all into a better future!

Consider this scenario

I was in a conversation with a brilliant business owner. We talked about the challenges of connecting to new prospects for her high-touch service business now that their tried and true approaches of the past have become impossible to use in the pandemic.

Yes, things are different now.

And, there is an opportunity to try something new — to not only connect, but to make a distinctive impression and make a meaningful connection in a surprising way. We brainstormed about several exciting possibilities.

When the question arose about how people would likely respond to such novel approaches, I suggested she might ask some current clients how they’d respond to the ideas. Outreach like that has a bonus, too. It’s an opportunity to connect to key current clients and hear how they are doing and what’s on their minds. She was excited to bring the new ideas to her senior team.

All of these possibilities grew from a concern about how hard it is to operate within the constraints of these times. By thinking in new ways, by getting curious and playful as we considered what might be possible, new ideas started to emerge quickly.

I can’t wait to hear the outcome of their new efforts.

When we focus on what’s possible, things change

It’s easy to feel stuck and stymied — about personal matters and in our businesses, our work and our careers.

When we can relax and begin to generate ideas without feeling like every one of them has to be great, we start to find directions that are exciting to explore and test. We have a whole new level of energy. Our spirits are lifted. We are motivated and excited.

We have never needed to be creative more than now!

And keep in mind that we get what we focus on. So, check in with yourself frequently and take note of where you are focusing.

What do you plan to focus on now?

Can you shift gears and focus on new possibilities? New ways of living that will bring you new levels of joy and satisfaction? New ways of serving your clients or doing your work? New ways of interacting with others, in every sphere of your life?

Can you bring a focus to gratitude for all the good in your life right now — especially in this holiday week when we collectively focus on thankfulness?

With gratitude as a foundation, you can more easily layer on the open mindset of being a creator, as you bring your focus to what matters to you.

Cultivate the joy of creating and watch what happens!

As the days are long, dark, cold and often wet, you can chose to activate the joy of creating.

Here are four possibilities:

1. Join me for an evening of shared creative fun at IgNight — now on Zoom, so you can join from anywhere! Each month we gather to create in a new, inspiring way.

2. Get your copy of Live Big: A Manifesto for a Creative Life and dive into the terrific practices that will help you to create exciting change in your life.

3. Make a vision board with me on December 13, when I join my long-time mentor and colleague, Peleg Top, as a guest teacher for a virtual Vision Board Party! Making a vision board now is a great way to step into 2021 with clarity.

4. Check out Live Big Live!, the powerful new program I created last summer that was life-changing for the first group of women who experienced it. The next Live Big Live! will launch soon, and will support another great group of like-minded women to close out 2020 on a high note and move into 2021 as remarkable creators of the visions they define for their futures.

Stay safe and well, enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving, and keep creating.

How to access all of your own wisdom

So many of us live primarily in our heads. We think — hard and long. We look for and depend on data, validation, or confirmation from outside sources before we take action.

We are afraid to take risks, and are often desperately afraid of failing. We believe that all that thinking, analysis, and searching for confirmation will protect us from the possibility of failure. And certainly, if we remain in our heads and search for more and more assurance, we never make many attempts that could fail — but could also succeed.

This is a classic way we stay stuck — all the while telling ourselves the comforting story that we are simply being thorough, or doing our due-diligence, or getting fully prepared before taking action. 

All of this thinking is leaning hard into the left hemisphere of our brains. That’s the side that is logical. The side that seeks data and facts. Some of us even think of ourselves as “left-brained” types. But, the fact is that while the left hemisphere is super important, it is only half of our brain. And, we all have access to all of our brain-power — right and left.

Why do so many of us settle for using only half of such a critical resource? 

The right hemisphere of our brain is marvelous and is often under-tapped as a resource. People in fields like science, law, math, medicine, and engineering often feel wary of right-brain attributes, as they rely so much on facts, logic, and evidence. They think that right-brained people are artists, and they are uncomfortable about having anything to do with art.

This is a huge misconception. The riches of the right hemisphere are remarkable and valuable for all of us — and they are accessible to everyone. 

Here is how you can begin to tap into ALL of your wisdom:

Connect to and trust your intuition

The right brain is the place that our intuition lives, and our intuition is a huge source of our intelligence. When you have a “gut feeling” that’s your intuition talking to you. Pay attention to the messages from your body, too! In fact, your gut is considered a second brain. I urge you to actively check in and listen for what it is saying — because there is enormous wisdom in your gut feelings. When you override intuitive messages with logic, you will invariably find that your intuition was right. Trust it!

Embrace emotion

Emotions are connected to the right hemisphere of the brain, and connecting to your emotions is amazingly valuable. Emotional intelligence — being able to read people’s feelings, and your own feelings — is one of our greatest resources, and is crucial for effective leaders. 

Some people are scared of their emotions, and that is not so surprising when you consider the impact of strong emotions like anger or grief or fear. But when you cut emotion out, you are disconnected from important messages that help you make sense of things, experience things, and assess things. You are unable to communicate and respond effectively, and you are less able to feel empathy for others. All of this missing knowledge hinders you in big ways. (And strong emotions tend to come to the surface in spite of your efforts to suppress them, leaving you feeling overwhelmed, confused, and even out of control. Ouch!)

Create!

The right hemisphere of the brain is the place of idea generation, imagination, and creativity. And, our gut (our second brain) is the other seat of tremendous creative energy. It goes without saying that creativity is vastly important — in every aspect of your life.

The thing I have found, over and over, is that huge numbers of people have an absurdly limited idea of what it is to create. They are sure they are not creative, because they associate creativity with being Michelangelo or Mozart or Baryshnikov.

The truth is that there are infinite ways to create, and all of them are remarkable. And, all of them are available to you. 

First and foremost, start to think of yourself as a creative being, and consider what you can and want to create in every moment. 

• You can create with food — in the preparation of food, the presentation, the combinations of flavors, and more.

• You can create with color — using pencils or crayons for fun, or using color to make your ideas clearer for other people to understand, or choosing colors for an environment that will inspire or soothe or stimulate you, to name just a few examples.

• You can create with words — in poems, in conversation, when journaling or writing articles or proposals. Or knock yourself out and start writing a book if you’re so inspired.

• You can create with music — by playing an instrument, or singing to process emotions, or by choosing the music to play during a gathering with friends, to set the mood you want.

• You can — and do — create when you bring any new concepts and ideas together, and when you set a vision. Consider these creative opportunities, expand your thinking.

• And here's what you may never have considered. You can create when you deliberately choose a creative mindset. Every time you create a response and choose your course of action, rather than reacting, you are creating in your life. You can create what is right for you, what will align with your values and lead to what you want, in every moment.

Can you think of yourself as a creator now? 

Test it — and start today

There’s no time like the present to start thinking about how you can embrace all of your intelligence and bring more of it to everything you do, both at work and in your personal life. Pay attention to what changes, or shifts, or expands as you exploit the benefits of leaning more into the gifts of your right brain!

I welcome you to share your experiences and ideas and results, or questions. Comment below, or email me, so we can compare notes, learn from one another, dig deeper into this topic.