Hello <$firstname$>,

As summer approaches, the last thing you want to think about is labor! But both the emotional or practical labor involved in creating something needs to be recognized. This week’s article calls you to recognize and appreciate the emotional labor that goes into making things real.

Today is the only day for Chris Guillebeau’s Empire Building Kit.  Build Your Own Empire in 1 Year. I’m a huge fan of Chris, who runs The Art of Non-Conformity and is on a mission to help people design their work and life on their own terms.

I’m planning my next caper – Paris for three weeks beginning June 3rd! Hear all about it on this Thursday’s Juju Infusion.

I’m acknowledging your emotional labor from here! Then let’s celebrate summer!

Cynthia
 

Coach with me one-one for June - November or July - December

Ceramic shop in Lisbon.

If you’re working on a book or other long-term project, having ongoing support is vital. My coaching helps you keep your focus despite the ups and downs of life so you meet your goals for your book or other creative project.

Everything you need to know to get started with your writer’s coach is here.

Having a seasoned writer’s coach on your team makes it easier to do all the emotional and practical labor of creating. Sign up to start in June or July and get the support you need to succeed and save $450.

I only have room to take four new clients like this, so go here for the details and the application.

 

I was thrilled to read the term ‘emotional labor’ in Seth Godin’s book, Linchpin. Finally, a phrase to capture what I consider to be at least half the work of creating anything.

The emotional labor that goes into building a business or developing an art or writing career is enormous. It’s why I have a job as a coach. If it were simply a matter of executing tasks, any monkey could create. It’s the emotional labor that separates those who can succeed and those who give up on their creative dreams.

So what is this emotional labor? Because emotions aren’t visible, and because we’re often besieged by several unpleasant ones at once, we often don’t recognize the work we’re putting in.

Doing my own emotional labor and facilitating that work for my clients, I’ve gained a sense of what it takes emotionally. When my clients learn to acknowledge and value their emotional efforts, they’re empowered. They know they can overcome fear and resistance. They know that they will be able to manage future conflicts more easily.

Kinds of emotional labor

The following list contains qualities, rather than emotions. Being able to feel, practice and live these qualities is good, hard emotional labor.

1. Cluelessness. It’s very uncomfortable to feel clueless. Most of us get very impatient when we don’t know what’s going to happen.

But creating is nothing if not a fool’s journey into the unknown. Will they like your work? Will they pay for it? Will you be able to focus enough to complete things?

It can be very stressful. Unfortunately, we tend to focus on worst-case scenarios. If you’re in the unknown zone, use your imagination to envision the best-case scenario instead of the worst. What’s the greatest thing that could happen?

You never know what’s coming. It could be really good. When I started my business in 1999, I had NO idea that the internet would become what it is today. What a gift for a creative entrepreneur!

2. Financial indifference. You never know what will take off and bring you money. I don’t expect to rake in the dough for my novel. If I do, that will be a bonus. I do have other expectations for it, about what it will teach me and how staying with it through publication will impact my life. I count on psychic payouts rather than financial reward.

Many of my clients are professional writers. Writing their personal work without a paycheck at the end is big labor. They have trained themselves to start writing without guarantee of a financial reward.

3. Rejection resiliency. No one likes to be rejected. Fear of being rejected is why we don’t start creating in the first place.

But Nos are inherent to the territory of creating anything. Take rejection as a necessary pain and keep going. That’s pretty much it in a nutshell, but I’ve written about this elsewhere.

Read my interview about rejection here. And check out my Ten Rejection Rituals.

4. Self-esteem reflected by your choices.  This is serious emotional labor, especially for those of us who are accustomed to putting everyone else’s needs first. You need to esteem yourself and your time enough to make and keep appointments to work on your projects.

You have to be willing to commit to yourself. You have to show up for it, despite guilt or feelings of selfishness.

5. Tenacity. Illness, the need to care for a parent or child, and unexpected emergencies can waylay our best efforts. Ironically, I’ve seen these major obstacles show up in my clients’ lives just as they commit to do their work. I call it the Test. Major hurdles seem to test our commitment.

My clients learn practices to help them return more easily to their creative work after being derailed. How tenacious are you?

6. Humility.  There’s nothing so humbling as creating art or a business. You can’t know everything about how to write a novel, how to get published, or how to incorporate your business. Being a novice doesn’t mean being a dunce; it just means you get to be an ongoing beginner.

Enjoy beginner status and shed the need to look good all the time. I promise you will enjoy the process a lot more.

7. Devotion to your art. You have to love your craft enough to set aside your ego when you realize your efforts aren’t good enough.
It’s humbling to master something.

Every draft of Chasing Sylvia Beach – I’m on number 15 now – has deepened my humility and my commitment to crafting a really good novel. It hasn’t been easy to accept that my writing isn’t up to snuff and that I need to apply myself more.

But I’m devoted to the project as much as I am devoted to improving my writing. I’ll never master the craft of writing. But I’ll die devoted to language and story.

8. Fumble gracefully. Reaching, striving, and failing is the only way to realize our fullest potential. “If you’re not failing, you’re not reaching far enough.”

We all know that mistakes are an inevitable part of learning. But to actually bear the consequences and sting of your mistakes with grace? Developing grace in fumbling is truly an art to be studied.

9. Honesty. This can be tough. We want to believe, so we delude ourselves. We insist our efforts are our best, we avoid financial realities and we prefer to use our vivid imagination to make everything okay.

I may need to accept that my novel will never be good enough for the market. That would be tough for me. But I’d have to face it. I’d have to move on.

Until that moment of truth, I’ll keep working the emotional labor of revision.

How do you fare with these types of emotional labor? Chances are you’re stronger with some than others. There’s no denying that it’s hard work to produce something that will sustain you creatively and financially.

But preparing yourself for the work will help. Struggling against it and moaning about how hard it is won’t make it easier. Knowing that we’re all doing our emotional labor can relieve some of the burden.

Honor and reward your emotional labor

Go back through each of these qualities. List at least one time you exhibited these traits. Give yourself credit for all the emotional labor you’ve done to date.

Then go celebrate your emotional labor. Use my article on celebration in the last issue of Impulses to guide your partying down.

Practical Labor

I am a huge fan of Chris Guillebeau’s The Art of Non-Conformity. I love his generosity, his style and his commitment to being extraordinary and helping others do the same. He’s a beacon of inspiration for creative entrepreneurs everywhere.

In this article I’ve helped you recognize the emotional labor required to succeed. Chris has created a product that shows you how to tackle the practical labor, step by step, to build your business, make your art, and be successful on your own terms. He’s done it and he’s sharing his resources and wisdom, plus the insights of those who have done it too.


His Empire Building Kit is on sale today and today only – May 18 – 19th 10:00 am MST. Use his guidance to do the labor necessary to create your empire.

Here’s the link, which is an affiliate link. Which means I make money from my recommendations. I only rave about people and products I believe will help you. 
 

Feel free to use this article on your website, blog or in your newsletter, and when you do, be sure to include this complete credit line:  Copyright 2009 Cynthia Morris. Cynthia coaches creative people to confidence and completion and inspires life as a creative adventure. Visit http://www.originalimpulse.com to get an infusion of inspiration for your art, writing and life.

Thanks to all who have been watching and commenting on Juju Infusion, my web TV show. Juju Infusion can be seen at the Original Impulse blog or at my YouTube Channel.

In recent episodes of Juju Infusion:

• My extraordinary yoga feat

• How I got started making videos

• Journal Juju

And much more!
 

Cynthia Morris, CPCC
Your Creativity Partner

Cynthia Morris is a creative pioneer, leading the way for other creative geniuses. Cynthia is a master at helping people bring their ideas down to earth in real ways: books, workshops, new businesses. She has demonstrated how to harness abundant creativity into tangible things with her book, e-products, workshops and tours. Certified as a Co-Active Coach and Leader, Cynthia facilitates group and individual successes in the United States and Europe. Call Cynthia to unleash your genius and make your dreams a reality. More about Cynthia...

Contact Cynthia
303.442.0664
Cynthia@originalimpulse.com
www.originalimpulse.com

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