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Creativity
takes time and silent space.
Each creative talent needs to stake out some
quiet time regularly.
You can schedule time daily or a couple of days a week. This needs to be
an appointment and commitment you keep with yourself.
3 Pillars of Creativity
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There are cycles of creativity.
Just as there are seasons in a year and cycles in preparing, planting,
nurturing, waiting and harvesting there are creative cycles. We are not
always in the harvesting phase. We do go through the dormant cycles of
winter that feel as though nothing is happening. We complete the
cycle and move into the planting and harvesting phases.
Yin and Yang of Entrepreneurial Creativity
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Select mentors, friends and dream partners
wisely. "Don't expect
anyone to be happy for your success or big dreams. If you have a
loved one and a friend or two who are happy for you, consider yourself
lucky." Other people can stop or delay your project or idea before
you even act on it. So select your creative team carefully. Remain
friends with lots of people but when it comes to working creatively,
choose like minds and train them to be honest and unconditionally
constructive.
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Commit to yourself.
Many people feel guilty when they take the time to engage in their
projects. It may mean leaving something undone, not over committing and
saying no. In a study of women and
creativity the biggest fear was
fear of lost or weakened relationships. People still need to
be connected. This may mean speaking with friends, lovers and
children about staying connected and nurtured during this process.
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Set strong boundaries.
"I say no to many things, so that I may say 'Yes!' to what gives me
life." We need strong boundaries so that we have energy and time for our
creations.
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Work
from your strengths.
If you were to spend 80% of your effort to become good at a weakness you
might improve that area 20%. But if you were to spend that same
80% of your effort to improve an area of strength, you may improve
your strengths 100-400% or more!
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Fear is a companion of creativity.
Make friends with fear. Unless you have a high risk, thrill
seeking personality you will experience
fear when you venture out into unfamiliar territory. It's OK to pause,
look at it, slow down for a moment. However, do NOT let it stop
you! Feel the fear and continue! The only way to lessen fear
is to do the things we are most afraid of. We are always in a
higher state of emotional arousal when we
try something new. Expect fear, redefine fear as performance
energy and move on.
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Stop criticising yourself.
We can defeat ourselves before we start by constantly feeling we come up
short. When you try something new always
stay positive about your performance. Yes, you can polish it and
improve, but you don't have to make yourself 'wrong' to make something
better.
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Get over perfectionism.
When you have to do something perfectly, you will rarely try something
new because you can't do it perfectly the first few times. Yes do great
work, but don't hold onto it until it's perfect. By the time it's
perfect, it'll probably
be outdated anyway.
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Play, have fun, feel joyful, get in the
energy flow. Creativity is
about play,
fun and flow. When you lose track of time and have boundless energy,
doing the things you love, you know you've found your highest
creative expression.
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