Are You Willing to Change to Get Results?
“To get something you have never gotten before, you’ve got to do something you’ve never done before.” ~ Celestine Chua
The idea that we must do something we’ve never done before can be daunting, but also exciting.
Scary, Scary, Necessary Change
It’s a known conundrum that humans resist change even as we are continually changing biologically. Change is unnerving, it’s risky, it’s unknown and our wiring fights the unknown because it may threaten our safety.
And yet without change, we’d never grow, either as human beings or as creatives.
How do we decide what changes to make to enhance our creativity, productivity and careers?
Observe Where You Put Your Time and Attention
What are you actually spending your time on? Note these and see which you are willing to either decrease or eliminate to free up your time and attention for your creative projects.
Observe Your Habits
When you sit down to create, do you check social media or email first? Do you find yourself cleaning off your desk when it’s supposed to be your time to write or create? If having a clear area to work is important to your process, make it happen before. Set up your area in advance so you can dive in at the appointed time.
What else do you do that might be sabotaging your creative efforts? Be mindful of how you move through your day and what you do so you can catch those things that might be obstacles to getting your work done.
Look for Resistance
Are there areas where you are resisting making a change? I knew that to increase my productivity, I would need to spend less time online. But I resisted it because I like the connection and isn’t that what all the marketing people say–that I need to have a consistent presence? Maybe. But I also have to make a decision that will benefit my work.
I also used to be resistant to planning my stories–picture books or novels–in advance. I thought that would cramp my creative process. But when I was willing to change and give it a try, I found my creativity soaring while the structure gave me a place to begin as well as guideposts along the way.
Find Successful Mentors
How does that writer who works full time and has three kids get anything done? Ask!
Can you do what they do, whether it’s getting up an hour earlier to create, writing during lunch or plotting your story or working through a character on your walk?
Change can be hard, but it also can take you to places you’ve never been before, both in your stories and in your life.
