We are all aware that we live in a super-fast-paced world, things happen quickly and things are always changing, nothing ever really stays the same for long.
So where does that leave us when we are trying to create the life we want for ourselves, our family, our work? It is especially hard for businesses these days: we are supposed to have a high presence on social media and that requires us to put out daily content. However, let’s face it, we don’t want to put out ‘nonsense’, we want to put out something useful, something that helps people, something that resonates with others. We want to form connections, we want to show we care and that people care about us, we want to be accepted – it can be constant hard work to think what on earth should we post!
It is a question I get asked a lot and usually it comes with – I just don’t have the time. Interestingly, someone came up to me the other day and said how come you have 48 hours in your working day and the rest of us only have 8 hours? I have people asking what my secret is, what do I do differently as they don’t know how I run my businesses, write my weekly blogs, do talks, host events and now write a book. They feel exhausted just looking at all that I do.
Well, I am not superhuman. I get tired too. I have days when I don’t produce much, give much or do that much too, I really do. It’s just that I also have days when I’m in my ‘flow’, days when I feel so aligned to what I am doing that it literally does flow out of me. The newsletter takes 20 mins, the content I write when I wake up takes 10 mins (as for me that is when my inspiration is the highest) and if the flow is not there, I don’t post.
Being in my ‘flow’, like everything, has taken consistent effort. It comes from having spent years working out what works for me, what my purpose is, knowing myself and knowing when and how I work best. It has been years of reading, learning, practising meditation, mindfulness and looking after me. The times that I don’t do this, my flow waves me goodbye, my creativity runs out of the back door and I return to my old ways of ‘force’, which is exhausting and produces very little.
How do I create? Here are some of the things that have helped me along the way:
I just start – yep that simple, I don’t put it off, I jump right in and start and before I know it, the creative flow has come. It is the fear that stops us from starting – we fear we can’t do it, we fear it won’t be good enough, we fear someone will judge it, we fear it won’t be perfect (it won’t!) and all that fear stops us from ever starting. So, just start and as you do, the fear will go.
Don’t ask yourself “How do I solve this problem?”. Asking this gives the problem all the power, it gets bigger and soon takes on a life of its own. Try this instead: What do I want to create? For example, I don’t think, “Balance isn’t making enough profit at the moment , how do I get more clients?”, I think, “what new classes/workshops/courses can I offer, what is it that I want to create?”. Feel the difference?
Asking what you would like to create really is the most powerful thing to ask yourself – this question turns your life around faster than anything!
Try it and see.
Don’t be the person who obesses over obstacles and spend your life acting and feeling like a victim. Be that person who lets their true creative nature shine through and watch how quickly your life turns around.